Pokemon: The Journey Begins (Kanto Arc)
by legoboy20
Summary: What if Ash didn't wake up late to get his first Pokemon? What if he started with an actual idea of what he was doing? Find out as you watch (or I guess read) Ash travel across Kanto with his friends in a different way than canon.
1. Ash and Pikachu The meeting of destiny!

Darkness had fallen over the quiet Pallet Town in the Kanto Region, the home of the world renowned Professor Samuel Oak, a researcher studying the relationships between people and Pokémon. Pallet is also home to a 13 year old boy by the name of Ash Ketchum. Ash is about 5 feet tall with black hair. Ever since he turned 9, Ash has been studying under Prof. Oak to learn as much about Pokémon as he can. Ash lived with his Mother, Delia Ketchum, and her Oddish.

A sleeping Ash awoke to a strange sound coming from the roof.

"The heck is that?" questioned Ash. Another sound came from the ceiling, it sound like some sort of electrical sparking. "What the…?" he was really curious about the sound now. He left his room, picking up a torch along the way, and headed towards the ladder leading up into the attic. He climbed up and saw a small flash of sparks in the corner of the room behind some boxes. He flashed the torch in the direction of the sparks and saw something that appeared to be the shape of a lightning bolt sticking out from behind the boxes; he assumed it was a Pokémon of some kind. He crept towards the Pokémon and peered over the cardboard cubes, and saw a small, yellow, rodent like creature.

The Pokémon sensed ash's presence and perked up its ears, making the sound "Pi?", Ash knew immediately (thanks to Prof. Oaks teachings) what the Pokémon was: Pikachu.

"Hey there, little guy," Ash said to the electric mouse calmly, trying to soothe it. He didn't really want to take a Thunder Shock and risk waking up his mother with his screaming, though he had experienced a few shocks holding electric types at Oak's Lab. Pikachu looked up at Ash; a little frightened at first, but quickly started to calm down, but it was still on high alert just in case. It walked towards Ash on all fours, sniffing him to check his scent. Much to Ash's surprise, Pikachu jumped into his arms, and started nuzzling him.

"Hey you're kind of cute," said Ash, he enjoyed being able to hold a Pokémon outside of the Prof's lab. _Pokémon, Lab, Oak_ , words started to fill his mind. "Oh shoot!" Ash exclaimed, louder than he meant to, as he remembered what day tomorrow was. "I'm supposed to get my Starter Pokémon tomorrow!" Unexpectedly, Delia, with her Oddish beside her, had come up into the attic to see what was going on.

"Ash! What are you doing up here?" the mother questioned her son.

"Well you see…" Ash began explaining what had happened, once he was done, Delia sighed.

"You should be asleep, you have to get up early tomorrow" reminded Delia.

"I know" Ash responded, frowning a bit. Delia continued,

"Take Pikachu outside and go to asleep, do you understand me?" She told her son.

"Yes…" Ash replied sadly.

"Good" His mother finished, and went back to bed, Oddish following behind. Ash left the house and put Pikachu down on the foot path.

"Sorry little guy, but you can't stay here" He told the electric mouse.

"Pika…" Pikachu replied sadly, starting to walk away.

"Wait!" Ash called out. "Do you know where Professor Oak's lab is?" questioned Ash. Pikachu nodded. "Stick around there tomorrow, I become a trainer tomorrow, and once I do I'll catch you, how does that sound" he asked.

"Pikaaa!" it replied happily with a nod, and ran out of the front yard in the direction of the lab. Ash smiled, and went inside to bed.

The beeping sound of Ash's alarm clock filled his room. Ash immediately shot out of bed and went to get ready; he had finished packing his backpack the previous night. He reached the bathroom and began his shower. As the water fell on him, he thought about which Starter Pokémon he wanted. He had experience handling all three while working with the Professor, but he still wasn't sure. He finished up in the bathroom and went back to his room to get dressed. He pulled on a pair of light blue jeans, a black shirt. Next was his jacket, it was blue with a white collar and sleeves, and yellow highlights along the bottom and pockets. He put on his socks and white and black shoes, as well as his green finger-less gloves. Finally was his official Pokémon league cap it was mostly red with white on the front, and a green L symbol, which stood for the Pokémon League, which tournament where trainers from all over the region, that have collected eight gym badges, compete for the title of league champion. This was Ash's main goal on his journey. He pulled on his backpack and headed downstairs, where his mother has already made breakfast.

"Morning, honey" she said to her son.

"Morning" he replied, already stuffing a pancake into his mouth. Delia sighed and sat down at the table.

"Have you decided which Pokémon you want to pick yet?" questioned Delia.

"Not yet, I want to see each one first, then pick" Ash told his mother.

"Fair enough" she replied.

After breakfast, Ash said goodbye to his mother, as well as Oddish, and headed towards the Professor's laboratory. He rang the doorbell, and shortly, one of the lab aids answered the door.

"Yes?" said the aid.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, I'm here to choose my first Pokémon" Ash informed.

"Oh, of course, come in" said the aid. "Professor!" the aid called out, "Ash Ketchum is here for his starter!"

Oak called out in reply from the second floor of the lab, "Yes, send him up". Ash walked up the stairs and into the Professor's lab.

"Morning Professor" Greeted Ash.

"Good morning Ash! Are you ready?" Oak questioned.

"Of course" replied Ash cheerfully. In the middle of the room, was some sort of table-like device, with three Poké Balls.

"Here Ash, these Poké Balls contain the three starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle" Oak explained, "Have you decided which one you want yet?,

"May I see them first?" asked Ash, still not sure which he wanted.

"Of course" Oak replied.

The man picked up the three balls and threw them into the air, each burst open with a flash of light. Each light formed into the shape of different Pokémon. One looked similar to a squatting dinosaur or frog with bluish-green skin and dark patches. On its back, was a green plant bulb, it was Bulbasaur. The second formed into a small, orange lizard with a cream coloured belly. Its tail ended with a small flame, Charmander. The final Pokémon looked like a blue turtle, its tail resembled the tail of a squirrel and it has a brown shell with a pale yellow belly. Squirtle. Ash looked at each one carefully trying to decide which he wanted. Oak approached Ash and handed him a red rectangular device.

"This is a Pokédex," he explained, "It gives you information about all the Pokémon you see". Ash took the device from the Professor, and pointed it at Bulbasaur.

" _Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon. It bears the seed of a plant on its back from birth. The seed slowly develops. Researchers are unsure whether to classify Bulbasaur as a plant or animal. Bulbasaur are extremely calm and very difficult to capture in the wild_ " he then pointed it towards Charmander.

" _Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. Charmander's health can be gauged by the fire on the tip of its tail, which burns intensely when it's in good health._ "

Then finally he pointed it at Squirtle, " _Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. During battle, Squirtle hides in its shell that sprays water at its opponent whenever it can."_ Ash stood up and closed the Pokédex.

He turned to the Professor, "Professor, I choose Charmander!" he exclaimed.

"Very well Ash, good choice" Oak handed the boy Charmander's Poké Ball.

"Charmander, return" Ash ordered, "Char!" it replied happy and was converted into a red energy and absorbed into its ball.

"Here Ash, here are ten empty Poké Balls, I don't need to explain what they are for, correct?" Asked the man.

"No, I'm good" Ash replied.

"Very well, good luck" he said the prof.

Ash smiled and responded with, "Thanks!".

Ash stepped out of the lab, suddenly Pikachu jumped from behind and grabbed onto Ash's shoulder.

"Hey there, Pikachu" ash greeted. He began to pull out a Poké Ball. Pikachu flinched as it saw the ball.

"What's wrong?" ash asked, "Do you not like Poké Balls or something?".

"Pika" replied the mouse with a nod.

"You need to go inside so I can catch you," Ash explained, "but you can stay outside with me if you want". Pikachu's ears perked up, it then nodded, though it was still afraid of the round device. Pikachu jumped of Ash's shoulder and onto the ground, ready for the ball. "Poké Ball, GO!" Ash exclaimed as the tossed the ball. It hit Pikachu on the head and it was absorbed in side turning into the same red energy that Charmander did. The ball fell to the ground and started rocking. One, two, three times and the ball stopped rocking and made a dinging sound, signifying the capture was successful. Ash picked up the ball and released Pikachu from it. "You ready to go buddy?" Ash asked his new partner.

"Pikachu!" it replied happily. Ash pulled out his Pokédex once again and scanned Pikachu.

" _Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. It can generate electric attacks from the electric pouches located in both of its cheeks._ " Ash then released Charmander from its ball too.

"Okay, according to the Pokédex you two are both male, right?" Ash asked, making sure the device was correct.

"Pika!" "Char!" they both confirmed with a nod.

"Okay! Let's go!" Ash exclaimed, they then started walking towards Route 1.


	2. Rocket Showdown in the Pokémon Center!

The sun was shining brightly as Ash walked along Route 1, with Pikachu on his shoulder and Charmander by his side. Suddenly Pikachu's ears perked up as it sensed something nearby.

"What is it Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed towards a patch of tall grass as a small bird-like Pokémon hopped out.

"A Pidgey" Ash whispered to his teammates as they hid behind a nearby rock. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it towards the small bird.

" _Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pok_ _émon._ _It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back_ " the Pokédex spoke.

"Perfect" Ash said to himself, "Pikachu, go!" he ordered. Pikachu leaped towards Pidgey, ready for battle with the electric sacs in his cheeks sparking. Pidgey turned towards Pikachu with a fierce look in its eye.

"That's weird" Ash thought, "The Pokédex said they're normally docile, oh well, fine by me". Pidgey made the first move and sent a Gust attack towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, dodge and use Thunder Shock!" Pikachu jumped out of the air of the Gust and fired a bolt of electricity at Pidgey. Pidgey was hit by the blast and fell to the ground, but managed to get back up. It then moved fast towards Pikachu, with its wings tucked by its sides. 'That's Quick Attack!' Ash thought to himself. "Pikachu! Use your Quick Attack to dodge and then hit it!" Ash ordered. Pikachu sped out of the birds attack and ram into it. Pidgey cried out in pain as it fell to the ground once more, Ash took this opportunity to throw a Poké Ball at the fallen Pidgey. Pidgey was absorbed into the ball in a flash of red. The ball rocked back and forth on the ground a couple times, and then stopped. Ash picked up his Poké Ball. "Welcome to the team, Pidgey" Ash said aloud. He clipped the ball onto his belt and continued on his way.

Not long after Ash had started walking again, he heard a loud scream coming from a nearby forest.

"Someone's in trouble!" Ash exclaimed. He returned Charmander to his Poké Ball and ran in the direction of the scream. Ash reached a large clearing and saw a girl about his age, with orange hair in a pony-tail on the side of her head and wearing a yellow crop-top and jean shorts help up with red suspenders, surrounded by Beedrill, large Bug type Pokémon that resembled a bee or wasp. Beside the girl was a Poliwag, a tadpole Pokémon with a swirl pattern on its belly. The Beedrill dove down on the girl using their Twinneedle attack. The girl scream as the came at her, but Ash immediately jumped into action.

"Charmander! Use Ember!" Ordered Ash as he threw his Poké Ball.

"Huh?" the girl said with surprise, hearing Ash's voice. The Beedrill stopped their attack and turned towards Ash. Charmander appeared from its ball and fired a barrage of small fire balls at the Bug/Poison types. This made the Beedrill even angrier than they were before and charged at Charmander. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock to help Charmander!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder into the air, and sent a bolt of electricity at the Beedrill. They fell to the ground and looked up to see Pikachu and Charmander staring at them angrily. The bee Pokémon gave up and started to fly away, one however was more sluggish than the others; it had been paralysed by the Thunder Shock. Ash took the chance and threw a Poké Ball at it and almost instantly captured it. Ash approached the girl, "Are you hurt?" Ash asked with concern.

"I'm okay…" she replied still a bit shaken up, "Thank you".

"It was nothing" Ash replied modestly, the girl then remembered her Poliwag.

"Poliwag! Are you okay?" she asked with worry in her voice.

"Polii" it replied weakly. The girl returned Poliwag to its Poké Ball and stood up.

"Hi, I'm Misty Mizuyawa" she informed Ash, "What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town" Ash replied, "and this is Pikachu and Charmander" he introduced his Pokémon. Ash recalled Charmander to its ball, "Come on, we should get Poliwag to the Pokémon Center" he started walking in the direction of Viridian City.

"Uh, right" Misty replied and followed after Ash. Little did they know, someone was watching them.

By the time the duo reached Viridian City, Pikachu had gotten inside Ash's backpack and fell asleep. As they were entering the city, Officer Jenny stopped them.

"Excuse me young man, but where are you going with that Pikachu?" She questioned, Ash was a little confused.

"We're on our way to the Pokémon Center, it's my Pikachu" He explained.

Jenny wasn't completely convinced, "Why is it in your bag rather than a Poké Ball?" She asked. Ash now realised why she was suspicious.

"Pikachu doesn't like being inside a Poké Ball, so I let it stay out." Ash then pulled out his Pokédex and showed it to the police officer, and it began talking.

" _I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced._ " It continued, " _Pokémon currently owned by Ash: Charmander, Pikachu, Pidgey and Beedrill_ " it finished. Officer Jenny felt a little embarrassed for thinking Ash was a thief.

"I'm sorry about that, it's just that a group of Pokémon thieves known as Team Rocket has been seen around Viridian City" she explained, "if you see anything, please inform me as soon as possible" she requested.

"Of course" both Ash and Misty agreed at once. They said good bye to Officer Jenny and headed towards the Pokémon Center.

They entered the Center and Misty went straight to the main counter to have Poliwag healed. Meanwhile, Ash went to the video phones to call home. Ash dialled his mother's number.

At home, the video phone began to ring, "RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, PHONE CALL, PHONE CALL" it repeated this until Delia answered the phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Mom, it's me, Ash" she replied. Delia squealed with delight as she turned on the video feature.

"Hi honey, is every going alright?" She asked.

"Yep, everything is great, I just arrived in Viridian City, and I already have four Pokémon!" He told his mother.

"That's great dear, it took your father 3 days to get to Viridian City, he would be so proud" Delia explaining to encourage Ash.

"Thanks Mom" he thanked his mother, starting to tear up a little at the mention of his father, who had left home nine years ago, but never returned. No one even knows if he is still alive. They continued their conversation for about five minutes.

"Well I've gotta go now mom, I promise I'll call again soon" Ash assured.

"Okay honey, don't forget to change your you-know-what every day, I love you", Delia reminded her son.

"I love you too Mom, and I will, bye". Ash hung up the video phone just as Misty approached.

"It's getting late, I'm gonna rent a room for the night an…" she stopped talking as two Poké Balls burst through the glass sky light, they opened to release two Pokémon. One was an Ekans, a purple snake-like Pokémon, and the second was a Koffing, a round Pokémon with holes releasing poisonous gas from its body, it also had a skull and cross-bones symbol on it.

"What's going on here?!" asked Nurse Joy. Koffing began releasing a Smokescreen attack.

"What's happening?!" quizzed Ash.

"Don't be scared little boy," a female voice replied from the smoke.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves" another voice added, male this time.

"Prepare for trouble"

"And make it double"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite the peoples within our nation"

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team Rocket Blasts of at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare the fight"

A cat-like Pokémon, a Meowth jumped in front of the duo"

"Meowth dat's right!" it finished, surprisingly talking!

"Did that Meowth just speak!?" Misty asked in surprise.

"Dat's right girly" Meowth confirmed, "now hand over ya Pokemon!" He demanded. Ash stepped forward, Pikachu's cheeks sparking.

"Let's start with that one," Jessie suggested pointing at Pikachu, "Ekans, use Bite!" she demanded. Ekans launched itself towards Ash, but he was ready.

"Pikachu, use thunder shock!" Pikachu lunged off Ash's shoulder and fired a bolt of lightning at the snake. The snake stopped mid-air, shocked (literally), and fell to the ground. Ash picked another Poké Ball from his belt and threw it.

"Beedrill, I choose you!" Ash called, as the bee Pokémon he had caught earlier that day appeared in a flash of white.

"Koffing use your Smog attack!" ordered James. Koffing opened its mouth and released a Smog attack at Beedrill.

"Beedrill, use Twinneedle!" Ash commanded, Beedrill's stingers began to glow purple, as he launched himself at Koffing stopping the not very effective Smog attack. Koffing flew backwards into James's face knocking him over.

"My turn!'" Misty exclaimed, holding a Poké Ball. She threw it and out popped a Staryu, a Starfish-like Pokémon with a red jewel in its center. "Staryu, use Rapid Spin on Ekans!" Misty ordered. Staryu started spinning in mid-air, slamming into Ekans, sending back towards Jessie.

"Alright Pikachu! Finish them off with Thunder Shock!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu jumped into the air, "Pikaaa" Pikachu started charging its power, "CHUUUUUUU!" Pikachu sent a powerful blast of electricity towards Team Rocket. The power of the blast caused an explosion, sending Team Rocket back through the sky light they entered through.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting ooooooff!" they cried as they flew into the air until all you could of them was a small flash, accompanied by a "ding!" sound.

Ash and Misty returned their Pokémon to their balls, as Nurse Joy approached them.

"Thank you" she said with gratitude, "if you weren't here, who knows what would have happened?".

Ash blushed a little, "No problem Nurse Joy" he replied. Nurse Joy smiled and went back to the front desk.

Misty began speaking where from where she was before Team Rocket interrupted, "As I was saying, I'm gonna rent a room for the night and get some sleep" explained Misty, "I'll see you in the morning?".

Ash smiled, "Of course!" he confirmed. Misty smiled back, and they both went to the front desk to rent their rooms.


	3. Viridian showdown! First rival battle!

Ash stepped out of the Pokémon Center and into the sunlight. After spending the night in the center, he was ready to start training for his first Gym battle. Though he knew there was a Gym in Viridian City; he also knew that it had been closed for at least a couple months. He had learned from Nurse Joy that the closest, open gym, was in Pewter City, and that it specialized in Rock types. Ash headed to the training field behind the center and released his Pokémon from their Poké Balls. Charmander, Pidgey and Beedrill all appeared in a flash of white. As he looked over his current party of Pokémon, Ash noticed a glaring flaw in his team. They were all weak against Rock types, and had no way to combat them. He sat down on a nearby bench and began to think of a strategy.

Ash looked through the Trainer's guide book he had received from the Pokémon Center and studied the information on the surrounding areas of Viridian City. He saw that Route 22, west of the city, was home to Pokémon known as Nidoran. He looked them up in his Pokédex, and was surprised to learn that their appearance and strengths differed depending on the gender. The male was purple with spikes and a horn on its head, while the female was a pale blue with whiskers and no horn. Ash noted that Nidoran could learn Double-Kick, a Fighting type move which would be super-effective against the Rock types in Pewter. Ash was so deep in thought, that he didn't even notice Misty sitting beside him. When she greeted him, she startled him, causing him to jump out of his skin (or more accurately, his seat).

"Sorry, Ash" she apologised to the boy, who was getting up of the ground.

"It's fine, Misty" he assured the redhead, "I was just thinking about my strategy for the Pewter Gym" he informed her. "My whole team is weak against Rock Pokémon" Ash explained.

Misty thought for a moment, "You could borrow one of my Water types" she offered. Ash considered the offer for a moment but decided to decline.

"No thanks, I'd rather use my own Pokémon" he replied.

"Then what are you gonna do?" she inquired. The boy showed his new friend the trainer's guide.

"I plan on going to Route 22, and attempt to catch a Nidoran" he explained. Misty knew why he wanted one, she stood up.

"Let's go then!" she exclaimed. Ash was a little puzzled at first, for why she would want to go with him, but didn't really question it.

"Okay, everyone return!" he ordered, holding up his three Poké Balls, recalling his Pokémon. The duo headed west, towards Route 22.

As the two teens arrived on Route 22, Ash released Pidgey and Beedrill to search for the Poison Pin Pokémon he was seeking. Pikachu began to pick up the scent of a Nidoran, but he had no luck. After about 8 minutes of searching, Beedrill returned, pointing his stinger in the direction of where he came.

Ash turned to Misty, "Come on, Beedrill found something!" He informed her, and ran after his Pokémon. Misty hesitated for a moment, fearing Ash's Bug type, but realised Ash wouldn't let Beedrill hurt her. She ran after Ash, not wanting to be left behind. After a few minutes of following Beedrill, the bee Pokémon stopped, and pointed towards a bush. The two trainers peered over the plant to see a group of blue and purple rabbit-like Pokémon. Ash immediately recognised them as Nidoran of both genders, and began examining them from a distance; trying to locate the one he wanted the most. Eventually, he spotted a male Nidoran sitting alone on a rock, Ash felt kind of sorry for it; he could tell it was the loner of the pack. Ash began approaching the Nidoran, and asked it for a battle. The poison type looked up at Ash before getting up, prepared for battle.

Ash recalled Beedrill, and released his fire lizard. Charmander's tail flame flared up, indicating it was ready for battle. Nidoran charged at his opponent with his horn glowing purple, and jabbed into Charmander's stomach, he flinched in pain as it received the blow. A purple hue appeared on his face, just above his nose. Ash recognised it as the poison status effect.

"You okay, Charmander?" he asked his starter.

"Char!" the lizard called back, a little weaker than normal, but still fine to battle.

Ash grinned, "Okay, use Ember!" Ash ordered, Charmander opened his mouth and launched a fury of small fireballs at Nidoran. It attempted to dodge, but was to slow, and flew backwards in pain, before recovering and sending a ball of water straight at Charmander.

"What!?" Ash cried out in confusion, not expecting the poison type to know any water attacks. "Quick, dodge it!" he ordered. Charmander managed to avoid the attack completely, and was ready to continue; he suddenly flinched in pain as the poison took effect, draining Charmander's health away. Ash knew Charmander was getting weak, but he also knew Charmander wouldn't give up until he couldn't continue.

"Use Headbutt!" Ash ordered, Charmander charged at Nidoran, ramming his head into Nidoran. The purple Pokémon flew backwards into a tree, and fell to the ground. Ash new it was time, and threw his empty Poké Ball at the unconscious Nidoran and it was sucked inside. The ball wobbled a few times, and stopped on about the tenth wobble, the ball dinged and three stars flashed above the ball, and then disappeared. Charmander ran over to pick up the Poké Ball, and returned to his trainer. Just as the lizard handed the ball to Ash, it collapsed in exhaustion. Ash thanked Charmander for the good job and returned him to his Poké Ball. The two trainers turned back in the direction from which they came, and headed back to Viridian City.

After healing his Pokémon, he returned to the training field. Ash was about to release his Pokémon once more, when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey there, Ashy-Boy". Ash recognised the voice and turned around to be face to face, with his childhood friend and rival, Gary Oak.

"What do you want Gary?!" Ash questioned obvious annoyance in his voice.

Gary smirked, "What's with the attitude, Ash?" he taunted, "Can't I talk to my rival or something?".

Ash's started to turn red with anger, "Let's battle Gary!" he demanded, he had taken enough insults from Gary over the last few years, and now that he was a trainer, he was ready for payback.

"Fine by me, Ash" Gary accepted, "but don't be sad when you lose!" he teased. Ash could feel his anger building up inside him. The two trainers took their places on the battle field, and drew their Poké Balls.

"How does two on two sound?" Gary asked.

"Fine by me!" Ash answered back. Gary released his first Pokémon, it was a Spearow. Ash drew his Pokédex to scan the bird Pokémon.

" _Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans."_ Spearow glared angrily at Ash, growling at him. Ash released Pidgey from her Poké Ball, she was ready for battle the moment she saw the other bird Pokémon.

Gary made the first move, "Spearow, use Peck attack!" he ordered. Spearow took flight and flew right towards Pidgey.

"Pidgey! Defend yourself with Gust!" ordered Ash, Pidgey flapped her wings creating a surprisingly powerful gust of wind, catching Spearow off guard, sending it flying backwards. Gary immediately ordered Spearow to retaliate with a Fury Attack. It once again charged at Pidgey once more, this time however, it was a lot faster and it pecked Pidgey multiple times. Ash's bird fell to the ground, obviously weakened from the previous attack.

Gary was ready to finish this match, "Spearow, use Pe…" he stopped mid-sentence as he saw Pidgey push herself back up and begun glowing a blue light. It took Ash a moment to realise what was happening, but when he did, he grinned. Pidgey began to grow larger; her crest grew longer, as well as her tail. Her wings also grew larger. The glow ended, revealing Pidgeotto, she was now much larger and her crest was a pinkish-red. Pidgeotto let out a battle cry and turned her attention back to Spearow. Spearow had begun to sweat a little, but didn't back down.

"Congratulations Pidgeotto!" Ash praised, "Let's win this!".

Pidgeotto nodded to her trainer, "Pidgeoh!" she cried.

"Alright, Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack!" Ash ordered. The bird's wings glowed white, as she flew at Spearow much faster than before she evolved. Spearow didn't have time to avoid it, and was hit by the attack and fell to the ground. Gary wasn't expecting to lose a single Pokémon in this battle; he couldn't have foreseen Pidgey evolving. He returned Spearow, and released his next Pokémon, Squirtle.

' _So Gary chose Squirtle…_ ' Ash thought to himself, knowing the weakness of the water type, Ash made the smart choice.

"Pidgeotto, take a break" he told his newly evolved partner, holding out her Poké Ball. The bird became red energy and was sucked back into her ball. Ash turned to Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"You ready buddy?" he asked.

"Pika!" he replied and jumped of off Ash's shoulder and raced onto the battle field. Pikachu's cheeks began sparking. Gary was annoyed by Ash's decision, not expecting him to be as smart as he was.

"Squirtle, Water Gun!" He ordered. Squirtle opened its mouth, releasing a torrent of water, aiming straight for Pikachu.

"Pikachu dodge with Quick Attack, and then follow up with Thunder Shock!" Ash instructed, Pikachu, sped out of the way of the Water Gun, and sent a bolt of electricity at the blue turtle Pokémon. Squirtle wasn't the fasted Pokémon in the world, but Gary had a plan.

"Squirtle, avoid it with Rapid Spin!" Gary ordered. As fast as it could, Squirtle pulled in its limbs, head and tail into its shell and spun away from the bolt. This surprised Ash, not expecting Squirtle to know Rapid Spin at such a low level, but immediately snapped out of his surprise and ordered another Thunder Shock, this time it hit Squirtle and it collapsed on the ground, unable to get back up.

"WHAT!?" Gary cried out in confusion, he couldn't believe, Ash of all people, had beaten him.

Ash ran up and hugged Pikachu, "You did it!" he exclaimed, holding his partner in the air. Gary recalled Squirtle, and started walking to the Pokémon Center. Misty, annoyed by the fact he hadn't congratulated Ash, started storming towards Ash's rival.

To her surprise, Ash had stopped her, "Leave him" he told her, "He's never been the type to congratulate anyone…" he continued. Misty was still annoyed, but followed Ash's advice. Ash had won today and that was all that mattered to him.

Ash turned to Pikachu, "Alright Pikachu, ready to get training?" he asked his yellow friend.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied with a nod, and train they did.


	4. Pewter City showdown! First Gym Battle!

After spending a few days training in Viridian City, Ash and Misty had continued their journey. The duo had arrived in the Viridian Forest earlier in the day, and Ash was beginning to regret allowing Misty to travel with him. She would constantly scream the moment she saw a Bug type, and it was starting to get on Ash's nerves. Pikachu was even considering going into his Poké Ball, so he wouldn't have to deal with the redhead's screaming. Eventually they stopped in a peaceful clearing for lunch. The duo released their Pokémon, and sat down to eat.

After they had finished their food, the two trainers continued on their way, both wanting to get out of the forest as soon as possible (though they each had slightly different reasons). After getting tired of being lost, Ash released Pidgeotto to help find the way out of the forest from the sky. Eventually they managed to find their way out of the forest and arrived in Pewter City.

"Thank Arceus!" Ash exclaimed, sitting down on a slab of stone nearby, "I was starting to think we would never get out of that forest!". Misty agreed, thankful she wouldn't have to deal with Bug types for a while, besides Ash's Beedrill. The duo didn't notice the bearded man sitting on a rock below them.

"Pewter city is grey, the colour of stone. This town has always been famous for stone", the man said, with a somewhat monotone voice. Ash jumped at the sound of the voice and looked down to see the man. He was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and dark green pants. He wore a crimson beanie on his head and wore white gloves.

"What the…? Who are you?"" Ash questioned.

"The name's Flint," the man answered, "and you're sitting on some of my merchandise, young man".

"Oh sorry!" Ash apologised, getting off of the slab, "Wait, you mean you sell rocks?" he asked puzzled.

"Pewter City souvenirs," he replied, "Wanna buy some?" he asked.

"No thanks" Ash declined, not sure why anyone would want one.

"Chaa" Pikachu sighed weakly.

"Very well, but your Pikachu looks tired" Flint stated, "Follow me, I'll show to the Pokémon Center" he offered.

"I guess he's a nice guy after all" Ash whispered to Misty.

"Are you sure?" Misty asked, still a little suspicious.

"By the way, that will be a two dollar fine for resting on my rocks" Flint added, Ash and Misty both collapsed in comedic, anime fashion.

Flint led the trainers to the Pokémon Center, where they had their Pokémon healed by Nurse Joy. While he was waiting for his Pokémon to be healed, Ash noticed a poster for the Pokémon League, making him more determined to defeat the Pewter Gym.

Flint approached the 13 year old, "You really think you can beat Leader Brock?" He asked the boy, not believing he could.

"Of course I can!" Ash replied, offended that this man he had only just met, judged him so poorly.

"We'll see" said Flint, walking out of the Center, chuckling to himself. Ash determined to prove Flint wrong, collected his Pokémon, ready for a day of training, learning new moves and getting prepared for the Gym Battle.

After two days of preparation, Ash entered the Pewter Gym. The room was pitch-black.

"Who goes there?" a voice called out from the darkness. Ash turned towards the direction of the voice to see a light shining down on dark skinned teenager. He looked to be about five years older than Ash, and had brown spiky hair. He wore an orange shirt, with a green vest and brown pants. The teen's eyes were squinted, and looked like nothing more than lines. Ash also noticed that he wore a brown wrist band, similar to the one he noticed Misty wear. Misty had gone to the Pewter Museum to wait for Ash to finish his battle.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town" Ash answered, "I'm here for a battle with Brock" he explained. The dark skinned boy stood up.

"I am Brock" he told Ash, "Do you have any Gym Badges?" he asked.

"No, none yet" Ash informed the Gym Leader. The lights in the gym turned on, as Brock walked over to a wall and opened a draw, holding many Poké Balls. He chose two and pressed a button, before walking to the battle field. A referee entered the room and took his place at the side of the field.

"Each trainer will use two Pokémon each, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon. Understand?" the referee explained. Ash nodded and took his place on the field as well.

Brock released his Pokémon first, "Geodude, go!", a small grey boulder-like Pokémon with a face, and two muscular arms appeared on the field.

"Geo!" it cried, ready for battle.

"Nidoran, I choose you!" ash cried as he threw his Poké Ball and released his Poison rabbit.

"Nido!" it growled, also ready for battle.

The referee raised the flags he was holding, "Begin the match!" he called and the battle started.

"You may make the first move, Ash" Brock offered.

"Fine by me!" Ash accepted, "Nidoran, use Double Kick!" Ash ordered, Nidoran ran at Geodude, and did a front flip before kicking the rock type twice with his hind-legs. Geodude flinched at the attack but recovered quickly.

"Geodude, use Rollout!" Brock ordered, Geodude tucked its arms in and began rolling at a high speed towards Nidoran.

"Nidoran, quick use Water Pulse!" Ash ordered, "WHAT?!" Brock cried out, surprised by the order for a water attack. A ball of water formed in front of Nidoran, which he launched at the rolling boulder Pokémon. Geodude was moving too fast to stop and avoid the water attack, and was hit. The super effective move knocked out Geodude immediately.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Nidoran wins!" exclaimed the ref, declaring Ash the winner of the first round. Brock recalled Geodude.

"Impressive Ash, I wasn't expecting Nidoran to use Water Pulse" Brock complimented, "But we will see how well you do against my next Pokémon!", Brock threw his second Poké Ball and released a giant serpent Pokémon, its body made up of about 15 boulders. Rather than saying its name, it only roared. Ash looked it up on his Pokédex.

" _Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move through the ground at fifty miles per hour_." Ash started sweating at the sight of the rock snake, but quickly focused back on the battle.

"Nidoran, Double Kick!" Ash ordered. Nidoran charged at Onix and jumped, ready to hit Onix.

"Onix, Slam!" Brock ordered, Nidoran's attack was stopped, when Onix lifted its tail and slam it into the poison type. Nidoran flew into the wall and collapsed unconscious.

The ref lifted the flag on Brock's side, "Nidoran is unable to battle, Onix wins!" he declared. Ash recalled Nidoran, and thanked him for the great job, then turned to Pikachu.

"You ready to go buddy?" he asked his yellow partner.

"Pikaa!" Pikachu replied, as he ran out on to the field. Brock wasn't sure what to think of this decision, but didn't bother to question it.

"Onix, use Rock Throw!" Brock ordered. Onix lifted a pile of rocks with its tail and threw them at Pikachu.

"Pikachu dodge and use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. Pikachu avoided the rocks easily, thanks to the speed it gained from Quick Attack and slammed into Onix, doing more damage to itself than to the serpent. Pikachu ran back to Ash's side of the field, ready to keep going.

"Onix, use Tackle!" Brock ordered, Onix slithered along the battle field quickly. This was what Ash was hoping for would happen, he grinned.

"Pikachu use Grass Knot!" Pikachu's eyes glowed green for a moment then two large, blades of Grass burst through the battlefield and tied together, tripping Onix.

"Now, follow up with Brick Break!" Ash ordered. The mouse's paw glowed white and hit the Rock/Ground type, knocking it out.

"Onix, is unable to continue, Pikachu wins, which means the challenger is the victor!" the referee declared. Ash ran up to Pikachu and hugged him, thanking him for his effort. Brock recalled Onix, and approached Ash.

"Congratulations Ash, I never would have guessed Pikachu knew Grass Knot or Brick Break" He admitted, "Can I admit something to you?" he asked.

"What is it?" Ash inquired.

Brock sighed, "The truth is I prefer raising Pokémon, rather than battle them" he explained. "My real dream is to become a Pokémon Breeder, not be a Gym Leader". "But I can't leave Pewter City, because of my 9 younger siblings" he continued, "My parents aren't around to look after them so I can't leave", he explained, "So I want you to take the Boulder Badge and fulfil my dream. Can you do that for me, Ash?" the Gym Leader requested.

"Of course" Ash agreed and accepted the Gym Badge.

"You go and fulfill your own dream, Brock" a voice said from the entrance of the Gym, Ash turned to see Flint.

"Flint? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, clearly confused. Brock had stern look on his face.

"My father…" Brock identified the man.

"Huh!?" Ash exclaimed, even more confused than before.

"I left home to become a Pokémon Trainer, but I failed and couldn't show my face to my family, Flint explained, "But now I see that I was being selfish and keeping Brock from his dreams" he admitted. Ash was now understood most of what was happening.

"Brock, I will look after our family, you go and follow your dreams" Flint told his son.

"Thank you father, but first there are somethings I need to tell you" Brock told his father.

"After all these years I understand how you must feel about me, so I want you to get chest" said Flint.

"Here" said Brock as he handed his father a needle and thread.

"Suzie always rips her dresses so you better know how to sew, and Timmy only eats cold spaghetti for breakfast, Tommy likes Corn flakes for dinner" Brock told his father all he needed to know about taking care of the children.

"Slow down! I can't write that fast!" Flint exclaimed, trying to write down everything Brock was telling him, on a notepad he had pulled out of nowhere. Brock continued on for a while.

After meeting back up with Misty, Ash and friends were back on their way, now joined by Brock.

"Ash, are you sure it's okay if I go with you on your journey?" Brock asked his new friend.

"Sure, the more the merrier!" Ash replied with enthusiasm.

"So where are we headed now?" Misty asked, Brock looked at his Town Map.

"It looks like the closest town with a Gym is Cerulean City". Misty cringed at the mention of the name, _'I don't want to go back so soon'_ she thought to herself.

"We have to go through Mt. Moon to get there though" Brock stated.

Ash walked ahead, "Fine by me!" he exclaimed and ran towards the distant mountain. Brock and Misty ran to catch up with their companion.


	5. Childhood meetup! Leaf and Zubat!

On route to Cerulean City, Ash and friends are making their way through Route 3.

"How long until we get to the next Pokémon Center?" Misty asked, she was exhausted and needed a break, (she also wanted to delay getting to Cerulean).

Brock looked at his Town Map, "It doesn't look to far, maybe about half an hour?" he replied. Misty sighed; she didn't think she could walk another step. Ash and Pikachu looked back at the redhead.

"Misty, you knew that journeys involved walking right?" he asked, trying to annoy her. Much to Ash's delight, her face turned red with annoyance.

"Of course I knew!" she retorted.

"Then stop complaining!" he shot back. Suddenly, Pikachu's ears perked up when he heard a voice in the distance.

"Pika Pi" he said, trying to get Ash's attention.

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asked, Pikachu pointed towards the direction the voice came from. The voice called out again, it was a girl's voice, and it sounded like they were giving battle orders.

"Wait, is that?" Ash said to himself, recognising the voice, he began racing towards the source of the voice. "Ash! Where are you going?!" Brock questioned, then ran after the young trainer, followed by Misty.

Ash turned around a corner to see a girl, about the same as him, ordering a Bulbasaur in a battle with a female Nidoran. She had long brown hair and a white hat with a red stripe around it. She wore a sleeveless blue and black tank top, a red skirt and a yellow satchel bag. Ash grinned when he saw her; she was one of his childhood friends, Leaf. He kept his distance, not wanting to break her focus on the battle.

"Bulbasaur, Tackle!" Leaf ordered, the grass type charged at the Nidoran and slammed into her. The blue rabbit like Pokémon shot a barrage of glowing purple needles at Bulbasaur, which would have been super effective on the dinosaur like Pokémon if not for Bulbasaur also being a Poison type. Leaf was ready to finish this battle.

"Bulbasaur, finish with Sleep Powder!" She commanded, Bulbasaur's bulb opened slightly and released a sparkly blue powder that covered the Nidoran, immediately putting her to sleep. Leaf wasted no time and threw a Poké Ball at the sleeping Pokémon and caught her with no trouble. Bulbasaur picked up the Poké Ball using her Vine Whip and gave it to her trainer. Leaf smiled at the ball, before putting on her belt. Ash walked towards his friend. He began clapping as he walked, startling her, she turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see Ash.

"Well done, Leaf" Ash applauded.

"Ash? Funny seeing you here" replied Leaf, she ran up to him. "How are you?" she asked.

"Great!" he replied, "You?"

"Same as always." She answered. "Anyway, it's great to see you" she said, and surprised Ash with a hug. Brock and Misty finally caught up, panting. Misty looked up and when she saw Ash being hugged by a girl she'd never seen before, she felt a feeling which she wasn't sure of, but ignored it.

"Ash!? What did you run off for?" She questioned, the hugging friends split apart, Ash smiled sheepishly at his two friends.

"Sorry guys, but I heard the voice of my childhood friend here" he gestured towards Leaf.

"Hi, I'm Leaf Yukiko, and this is my starter Pokémon Bulbasaur" Leaf introduced herself and Bulbasaur. Brock and Misty introduced themselves to Leaf as well. Brock and Misty learned that Ash and Leaf had met in pre-school, and had been friends ever since.

"So, where are you headed, Ash?" Leaf asked.

"Mt. Moon, on our way to Cerulean City" Ash explained.

Leaf smiled at this, "Me too!" she exclaimed, "Why don't we go together?"

"I don't see why not" Ash agreed, and then they headed off. After about an hour and a half, the quartet arrived at the Route 4 Pokémon Center, they gave their Pokémon to Nurse Joy to be healed and headed to the cafeteria. It was about 7:30 pm when they had finished the food and everyone was ready for bed. The group collected their Pokémon and rented a 4 person room. By 8:30 everyone was asleep, everyone but Misty that is. She lay looking up at the ceiling, thinking.

 _'Maybe I should go back to Cerulean now'_ she thought to herself, _'I know Ash would want to be challenged to earn his badges, but I just don't think any of my sisters can give him a challenge'_ Misty thought for a while longer before deciding what she was going to do. She got dressed as quietly as she could, wrote a note telling her friends not to worry about her, grabbed her backpack and left silently. She exited the Center, and pulled out a Poké Ball, it had a blue lid with two red lines on top, a Great Ball. Misty released the Pokémon inside, a large swan like Pokémon with white feathers and a long neck. Misty petted her bird Pokémon on its head.

"Swanna, please take me back to Cerulean City" she requested, Swanna nodded, and Misty climbed onto the swan's back. Swanna became airborne and flew over Mt. Moon towards Cerulean City.

The next morning, Pikachu woke up first and looked around the room, he soon noticed someone was missing.

"Pikachu-Pi!?" he cried out and woke up his trainer with Thunder Shock. Ash screamed in pain at the shock, also waking Brock and Leaf up, and turned to Pikachu.

"What is it Pikachu?" He asked the electric type, who pointed at Misty's bed. Ash's eyes widened, "Misty?!" he exclaimed, Brock had gotten out of bed and found Misty's note.

"Ash, take a look at this" he requested; Ash and Leaf walked over to Brock and they began to read the note:

 _'Dear everyone. I'm sorry I left without telling any of you, but I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me. I had something I needed to take care of in Cerulean. Don't wait for me, I'll meet you there. ~Misty'_. The trio were slightly worried about Misty, but accepted her request to not worry about her. When the group was ready for the day, they left the Pokémon Center and headed for Mt. Moon.

After about five minutes of walking, the group heard a non-human sounding screech.

"What was that?" Ash asked.

"I don't know, but we should check it out!" Brock replied, and ran in the direction of the sound.

"Wait up, Brock!" Ash cried out and ran after him, followed by Leaf. The trio came to a stop at the entrance of Mt. Moon, and spotted a small, blue bat-like Pokémon. Brock raced over to it to check on its health, while Ash looked it up in his Pokédex.

" _Zubat, the bat Pokémon. Zubat avoids sunlight because exposure causes it to become unhealthy. During the daytime, it stays in caves or under the eaves of old houses, sleeping while hanging upside down."_

"What is it doing outside during the day?" Leaf questioned, confused.

"No idea, but it's in bad shape!" Brock replied, concern in voice, "We have to get it back inside the cave." The former gym leader carefully picked up the bat Pokémon and rushed into Mt. Moon. Inside the cave, Brock placed Zubat onto the ground, and reached inside his backpack to find a Super Potion, while Ash and Leaf watched with concern for the bat Pokémon. Brock finally found a super potion and sprayed the medicine onto Zubat. The Pokémon flinched at the stinging sensation of the potion, but endured it. After a few minutes, Zubat was happily flying around the cave, before landing on Brock's shoulder.

"How are you feeling, Zubat?" Brock asked, Zubat screeched happily in response.

"What were you doing outside the mountain, Zubat?" Ash questioned. Zubat took flight from Brock's shoulder and flew further into the cave.

"I think Zubat wants us to follow it" Leaf guessed.

"I'd say your right, Leaf" Brock agreed.

"Then let's go!" Ash exclaimed as the group ran after Zubat.

After a while, Zubat stopped just before a clearing, and pointed towards a nearby rock, instructing the trainers to duck behind it. The trio did so, and peaked over the top and saw a group of three people wearing all black. Ash immediately noticed the red "R's" on their uniforms.

"Team Rocket…" Ash muttered, receiving confused looks from his companions.

"You know these guys, Ash?" Leaf asked.

"Not these guys specifically, but other members" he replied. Zubat once again planted itself on Brock's shoulder and pointed towards one of the corners of the clearing with its wing. The trio looked in the direction Zubat pointed and saw many cages containing many small, chubby, pink Pokémon. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the imprisoned Pokémon.

 _"Clefairy, The Fairy Pokémon. This impish Pokémon is friendly and peaceful. It is believed to live inside Mt. Moon, although very few have ever been seen by humans"_. Unfortunately, one of the Team Rocket members had heard Ash's Pokédex, turned to see the trio.

"HEY YOU!" he shouted.

"Uh oh, busted" Leaf exclaimed, grabbing a Poké Ball from her belt.

"Let those Clefairy go!" Ash demanded.

"Why should we?" one of the grunts inquired, as many Koffing, Ekans and Rattata were released.

"Butterfree, Let's go!" Leaf cried as she threw her Poké Ball, releasing a huge butterfly-like Pokémon.

"Freee!" it cried as it prepared for battle.

"Geodude, let's rock!" Brock cried as he also released his Pokémon, it appeared in front of him and cried out.

"Geoo!"

"You as well, Pikachu!" Ash ordered as the electric mouse ran towards the battle.

"It's gonna be like that huh, okay then, Koffing use Sludge!" one of the grunts ordered.

"Ekans, use Poison Sting!" another ordered.

"Rattata, Hyper Fang!" Ekans and Koffing launched their attacks, while Rattata charged at Pikachu with its teeth growing larger with a white glow.

"Butterfree, stop Ekans and Koffing's attacks with Confusion!" Leaf ordered, Butterfree's eyes began to glow blue with psychic energy as it stopped the poison type attacks and sent them back at the enemy.

"Pikachu, use Grass Knot, followed by Thunder Shock!" Ash ordered. Pikachu's eyes glowed green, before two glowing blades of grass burst through the ground and tied together, tripping the purple rat. Before it could recover, Pikachu sent a powerful bolt of electricity at Rattata sending it flying towards Koffing and Ekans, who were now fainted in a pile thanks to Butterfree.

"Now, Geodude use Rollout!", "Butterfree, Gust!", "Pikachu, Thunder Shock!" the three trainer ordered, the three Pokemon attacked the Team Rocket grunts, and sent them flying into a wall, causing them to go unconscious.

"Tie them up with String Shot, Butterfree" Leaf ordered, Butterfree shot a sticky silk around the unconscious Rocket grunts, tying them together.

Ash walked over to the caged Clefairy and released Charmander.

"Charmander, break the locks off these cages with Metal Claw" he told his starter, who immediately got to work slashing at the cages. After only a few minutes, all of the Clefairy were free.

"Thanks Charmander, return" Ash thanked the lizard, as he recalled him back into his Poké Ball. The Clefairy left the cages and began running around and cheering happily. "I'd say our job here is done" Ash said proudly, as he and Pikachu both assumed a victory pose, which Brock and Leaf sigh at.

As the trio begins to exit the mountain, the halt at the sound of a cheerful screech as they turn to see the same Zubat flying towards them and landing on Brock's head.

Brock smiled, "I think I know what you want" he said to the bat, as he pulled out a Poké Ball. If Zubat had eyes, they would have lit up with excitement at the sight of the ball. It immediately flew at the ball and bumped its head on it, putting itself inside. The Poké Ball shook in Brock's hand a couple times before becoming still, indicating a successful capture.

"Congratulations, Brock!" Ash congratulated.

"Thanks, let's get going then" proposed the former gym leader. The two Pallet Town trainers agreed and headed out of the cave. Once they exited, they could see the nearby Cerulean City, down the hill they were on. Leaf spotted a nearby sign and walked over to read it.

As she read, she began to smirk, "Hey Ash, come look at this" she said.

"What is it?" the boy asked. Leaf pointed at the bottom right corner of the sign, Ash read the words out loud:

 _"Gary was here, Ash is a…"_ he paused at the last word, "LOSER!?" Ash's face turned red with anger, "I'll show him! Cerulean Gym, here I come!" he exclaimed as he ran down the hill, leaving his companions as well as Pikachu, in his dust.

They sighed once again, before running after their friend, "Ash! Wait up!" Leaf yelled.


	6. Aquatic Gym Match! Ash vs Misty!

On the outskirts of Cerulean City, a practice battle between Ash and Leaf is about to begin, in preparation of Ash's Gym Battle at the Cerulean Gym. Brock was acting as the referee.

"This will be a one on one battle" he stated, "Understand?" he asked.

"Yes!" Ash and Leaf replied in unison.

"Ok then, begin!" said Brock.

"Beedrill, I choose you!" Ash cried as he threw his Poké Ball into the air and released his Beedrill.

"Bee!" he buzzed.

"Beedrill, huh, okay then, let's go, Butterfree!" Leaf said as she released her Butterfree.

"Freee!" she cried, as it entered the battle. Leaf decided she was going to have the first move.

"Butterfree, use Gust!" She ordered. Butterfree flapped her wings as fast as she could, creating a strong breeze.

"Beedrill, dodge it!" Ash ordered, "Then use Fury Attack!" Beedrill easily avoided the Gust, and charged at Butterfree, and began rapidly jabbing at her with his stingers.

"Aah! Butterfree dodge it quick!" Leaf ordered, but Beedrill was too fast for Butterfree, and she was hit all five times by the attack. Butterfree fell to the ground.

"Alright, Beedrill, use Twinneedle!" Ash commanded. Beedrill's stinger began to glow purple as it flew towards Butterfree. "

Heh, perfect" Leaf smirked, "Now! Use Stun Spore!" Leaf commanded.

"WHAT?" Ash cried out, Butterfree flapped her wings and released a yellow powder right as Beedrill got close, causing him to become Paralysed.

"Follow up with Confusion!" Butterfree's eyes glowed blue, Beedrill became outlined by the same blue energy. "Now throw him!"

Butterfree lifted the paralysed bug-type into the air, and then slammed him down into the ground, sending dust into the air. The dust cleared to reveal swirls in Beedrill's eyes showing that he was unable to continue.

"Beedrill is unable to battle, so Butterfree and Leaf are the winners" declared Brock. Ash crouched beside Beedrill.

"You okay, Beedrill?" he asked his fallen bug-type.

"Bee…" it said with a nod and sad tone in his voice.

"Don't worry Beedrill, you were just at a disadvantage, and besides, it was only a practice battle anyway" Ash said trying to comfort Beedrill.

"Pika!" said Pikachu, also trying to cheer up his team mate.

"Ok, Beedrill, return" Ash said as he returned his Pokémon. "Now, to Cerulean City!" he cried.

As they entered the city, Ash began looking through his Trainer's guide, looking for the Gym's location.

"Okay, looks like the Gym is near the Pokémon Center" Ash stated.

"Aren't we going to find Misty first?" asked Leaf.

"Nah, she's probably at the Pokémon Center anyway, so we can just meet her there, now let's go!" Ash replied. He couldn't wait to gain his second Gym Badge.

"Okay then…" Leaf said, not really sure this was the right thing to do.

After healing their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, the group found the Gym.

"Ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner, "Pi Pikachu!" he replied with a "thumbs" up. "Okay, let's go!"

When they entered, they found a group of three girls drinking lemonade sitting at a table.

"Uh, excuse me, we're looking for the Gym Le—" Ash said before being interrupted by Brock, who ran over to the girls. Ash and Leaf were about to experience for the first time, something they would see a lot throughout their journey.

"Hello ladies, I'm Brock. It's a wonder there's still ice in those drinks, because you three are hot" he said, pulling a bouquet of flowers out of nowhere. The three girls just stared at him in response. Ash and Leaf had a similar reaction.

"Uh, can we, like, help you?" the blonde haired girl asked.

"Um, yeah, we're looking for the Cerulean Gym leader?" he asked.

"What's your name, kid?" the indigo haired girl asked.

"Uh, Ash Ketchum" Ash replied. The three girls looked at each and nodded. The pink haired girl pointed to a doorway.

"She's, like, through that door" she told the group.

"Uh, thanks" Ash thanked the girls and headed towards the doorway. Brock was still kneeling in front of the girls, so Leaf grabbed his collar and pulled him behind her.

"Wait! Can I at least ask your names?" Brock cried out as Leaf pulled him away.

"The name's Daisy" said the blonde haired girl, "Violet" said the blue haired girl, "And I'm Lily" said the pink haired girl.

"Daisy, Violet, Lily, you're like a bouquet of beauty!" he complimented them as he was pulled through the door way.

Ash stepped through the doorway and found himself in giant room with a huge swimming pool in the center. Leaf and Brock soon joined him.

"Hey, look up there!" said Leaf, pointing up to the top of a tall diving platform. Ash looked up and saw a figure he probably wouldn't have recognised, if it weren't for the side pony-tail.

"Misty!?" Ash called out in surprise.

"What's wrong, Ash? Surprised to see me here?" She asked teasingly. She jumped from the platform into the pool, then swam to the side of the pool and climbed back out.

"So Ash, you ready for a battle?" she asked.

"Wait, so you're the Gym Leader?!" asked Ash, he was confused now.

Misty smiled, "Well, I'm one of them, my three sisters are also Gym Leaders" she informed.

"So the girls we met outside, were your sisters, and Gym Leaders?" Leaf questioned.

"Like, yeah" a voice replied from behind them. The group turned around to see the girls from outside, Misty's sisters.

"So why did you come back here ahead of us, Misty?" asked Brock.

"I wanted to give Ash an, at least somewhat, challenging battle, that my sisters couldn't give, so I wanted to have a bit of time to prepare" she answered.

"HEY!" Cried the sisters, obviously offended by Misty's lack of faith in their skills as trainers.

"So Ash, ready to begin?" she asked.

"You bet!" Ash replied with excitement.

Ash and Misty stood at opposite sides of the pool, which now had multiple platforms floating in the water for Pokémon that can't swim. Leaf, Brock, Lily, and Violet sat in the audience, while Daisy acted as the referee.

"This will, like, be a three on three battle and only the challenger may, like, swap Pokémon" Daisy explained. "Trainers, like, choose your Pokémon."

Misty selected her Pokémon first. "Misty calls, Goldeen!" Misty cried as she released her Goldeen.

"Goldeen Goldeen" it said as it landed in the pool. Ash pulled out his Pokédex.

" _Goldeen, The Goldfish Pokémon. It swims at a steady 5 knots. If it senses danger, it will strike back with its sharp horn."_

Ash chose his own Pokémon, "In that case, Pidgeotto, I choose you!" he shouted as he threw Pidgeotto's Poké Ball.

"Pidgoh!" she called as she exited her Poké Ball.

"Battle, begin!" shouted Daisy and the battle had started.

"Goldeen, use Water Pulse!" Misty ordered. A ball of water formed in front of Goldeen's horn, which it then launched towards Pidgeotto.

"Quick, use Quick Attack to avoid!" Ash ordered, the bird Pokémon shot away from the Water Pulse, then rammed into Goldeen. The Goldfish Pokémon was sent about a metre backwards, before managing to stop itself.

"Use Horn Attack!" Misty ordered, Goldeen swam as fast as it could and launched itself out of the pool straight into Pidgeotto's stomach. Pidgeotto flinched at the pain, but quickly recovered.

"Alright, use Steel Wing!" Ash commanded, Pidgeotto's wings glowed a metal-grey colour as she flew toward Goldeen, who was still in the air from its previous attack, and hit the fish with its wing. Goldeen fell to the bottom of the pool, before resurfacing, fainted.

"Goldeen is unable to continue, Pidgeotto is the winner!" declared Daisy.

"Thanks Goldeen you were great" Misty said, as she returned Goldeen to its Poké Ball. Pidgeotto landed on Ash's arm.

"You were great, Pidgeotto!" Ash praised, petting the bird on her head.

"You may have beaten my first Pokémon, Ash, but this battle is still going!" Misty told him.

"I know, Misty, but I still plan on winning!" Ash responded.

Misty chose her next Pokémon.

"Next, Misty calls, Poliwag!" she cried as she released the tadpole Pokémon.

"Poli!" it cried as it landed on one of the floating platforms.

"You okay to keep going Pidgeotto?" Ash asked his Pokémon. She nodded, and then flew out above the pool.

"Alright then, use Tackle!" ordered Ash. Pidgeotto flew at Poliwag.

"As soon as it gets close enough, use Double Slap!" When Pidgeotto got close, Poliwag turned around, and slapped Pidgeotto away with its tail, sending the bird into the water.

"Pidgeotto!" Ash cried, after a few seconds, Pidgeotto managed to get to the surface, but Misty wasn't willing to let her recover.

"Poliwag, Ice Beam!" Misty ordered, intending to finish Pidgeotto off.

"What!?" Ash clearly wasn't expecting Poliwag to know an ice-type move. Pidgeotto wasn't able to get out of the way in time and was hit by the Super Effective attack. Pidgeotto was sent flying backwards and landed on a platform, unable to continue.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle, Poliwag wins!" Daisy declared.

"Good job, Pidgeotto. Take a good rest" Ash told the Bird Pokémon as he returned her to her Poké Ball.

"Wow Misty, I didn't see Ice Beam coming at all" he admitted.

Misty winked at the boy, "Come on Ash, Poliwag is still raring to go!" Poliwag puffed out his "chest", proving Misty's comment.

Ash selected his next Pokémon, "Nidoran, I choose you!"

The Poké Ball burst open to reveal Nidoran.

"You ready Nidoran?" Ash asked the poison-type.

"Nido!" it answered with a nod.

"Okay, use Poison Sting!" Nidoran's horn glowed purple, and shot a barrage of glowing needles at Poliwag.

"Poliwag dive underwater to avoid!" Misty commanded. Poliwag jumped into the pool just as the Poison Sting hit the platform. "Now use Water Gun!" Poliwag fired a jet of water from its mouth towards Nidoran.

"Counter with Double Kick!" Ash instructed, Nidoran jumped up and kick the water stream, blocking the attack. "Alright, use Hidden Power!" multiple green orbs formed around Nidoran's body, which he then launched at Poliwag.

"Quick Poliwag, get out of the way!" Misty cried out, but it was too late, Poliwag was hit by the attack and was knocked unconscious.

"Poliwag is, like, unable to battle, Nidoran is the winner!" stated Daisy, Misty thanked Poliwag and returned him to his Poké Ball.

"When did Nidoran learn that move, Ash?" She asked.

"When we were training on Route 4" Ash replied, "The best part is what type it ended up being." Misty looked confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Hidden Power's type is different for every Pokémon, that includes Pokémon of the same species, not all Nidoran, for example, have the same type Hidden Power" Brock explained.

"Is that so? So what type is Nidoran's, Ash?" Misty questioned.

Ash grinned, "Grass" he answered.

"Well, that explains why it did so much damage to Poliwag!" she stated, "But remember, this battle isn't over yet!"

"Misty calls, Staryu!" Misty called as she released Staryu into the battle.

"Hyahh!" it cried as it landed in the pool, ready to battle.

"Staryu, use Swift!" Misty ordered, Staryu fired multiple golden stars from it jewel.

"Nidoran, dodge it!" Ash instructed. Nidoran jumped to another platform to avoid but the Swift just changed direction and hit him. "Huh?!" Ash said in confusion,

"Didn't you know, Ash? Swift never misses, you can't dodge it!" Misty explained. She continued her attack, "Now, use Water Gun, full power!" Staryu fired a Water Gun from its top point and sent Nidoran flying into the pool.

"No, Nidoran!" Ash cried.

"Now, finish it off with Rapid Spin!" Misty commanded. Staryu began spinning and flew towards Nidoran, who was struggling to get out of the water. Nidoran was sent flying and landed on the floor in front of Ash, with swirls in his eyes.

"Nidoran is unable to battle, Staryu wins!" declared Daisy.

Ash picked up his Pokémon, "You okay, Nidoran?" he asked.

"Nido ni" it said weakly with a nod.

"Take a good rest buddy" Ash told the poison-type, as he returned him. Both trainers had only one Pokémon left, and Ash wasn't going to lose. He turned to Pikachu.

"You're up buddy" he told the electric mouse.

"Pika!" he replied, and jumped on to a platform.

"This is it Misty, the last match" Ash stated, "You ready to lose?" he asked.

"No way!" Misty retorted.

"This is getting close" Leaf stated.

"Yeah, but Ash has the advantage here with Pikachu" Brock pointed out.

"Alright Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!" Ash ordered. Pikachu jumped up and released a stream of electricity from his tail at Staryu, causing it to become paralysed.

"Oh no, Staryu!" Misty said with concern, Staryu's body crackled with electricity. "Try using Bubble Beam!" Staryu's jewel glowed orange, and then released a stream of orange bubbles towards Pikachu.

"Dodge, then use Thunder Shock!" Ash commanded, Pikachu easily moved out of the way of the bubbles, and then released a bolt of electricity at Staryu, causing Super Effective damage to the starfish Pokémon.

"Staryu quick! Use Recover!" Misty instructed. Staryu glowed rainbow, starting at its jewel letting it regain some of its lost strength, though it didn't help its paralysation.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock, again! Aim for its jewel" Ash ordered. Pikachu sent another Thunder Shock, this time right in Staryu's center.

"Ah! Staryu no!" Misty cried.

"Staryu yes!" Ash retorted. "Pikachu, finish it off with Electro Ball!" he commanded. Pikachu's body became surrounded in yellow electricity and multiple yellow sparks come off his body. All of the electricity condensed at Pikachu's tail and formed into an orange-yellow orb of electricity. He jumped into the air and did a front flip, throwing the orb towards Staryu. Staryu tried to move out of the way, but became fully paralysed, right at that moment, and was hit, and sent flying. It landed in the water right in front of Misty. Its jewel started flashing and beeping, signalling it could no longer continue.

"Staryu is unable to battle, like, Pikachu wins!" declared Daisy, "Which means, the challenger, Ash Ketchum is, like, the winner!" she finished.

"Yes!" Ash cheered, Pikachu ran from the battlefield and jumped into Ash's arms. "Ha ha, you were great buddy!" Ash praised his partner. Misty lifted Staryu out of the water.

"Thanks Staryu, you were great" she said as she returned the starfish. She stood up and walked over to Ash. "Well Ash, I'm impressed" she told him.

"Thanks Misty" he replied, "So were you." Misty blushed a little, but wasn't exactly sure why. Misty reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue badge in the shape of a teardrop.

"Ash, for winning here, I give you the Cascade badge" she said, as she handed the badge to Ash.

Ash took the badge and posed, holding up and said "I got, the Cascade Badge!"

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu joined in with his own pose.

"Hey Brock, where's the next gym?" Ash questioned.

"I'm pretty sure the closest gym is in Vermillion City" Brock replied.

"Vermilion City!?" Misty perked up at the name of the city, "I've always want to go there!" she stated, "Let me get changed and let's go!" She was about to leave the room when she remembered something.

"Oh yeah, there's a tournament at Cerulean Cape in a few days" she told the group.

"Really? Let's go there first!" Ash proposed. Brock, Leaf and Misty all nodded. Now Ash was excited, the Vermilion Gym could wait, but this tournament couldn't.

"Okay, of the Cerulean Cape we go!" "Pika!" Pikachu and Ash cheered together.


	7. The Nugget Bridge Hoax!

Ash had wanted to head for Cerulean Cape as soon as possible, but his friends had other plans. By the end of Ash's gym battle, it was only half past twelve, so the group had decided to spend the rest of the day in Cerulean City, and then leave the next morning. They decided to go to the Cerulean shopping center for lunch, and to stock up on supplies. After lunch, Brock left to pick up the supplies they needed, while Misty and Leaf went to look in clothing stores, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone. The duo decided they would just wander around until the others were finished what they were doing. After about five minutes of walking, one store caught Ash's eye. A Poké Ball store.

When Ash and Pikachu entered the store, they both stood in awe at the amount of different Poké Balls that were for sale. There were the basic red and white balls, as well as Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Net Balls, Dusk Balls, Nest Balls, and many others. Ash figured this was a good time to stock up on Poké Balls, and began to pick out which ones he wanted. After about twenty minutes, he was finished and payed for them. He ended up buying: 10 regular Poké Balls (which gave him a free Premier Ball), 3 Heal Balls, 6 Great Balls, and 4 Nest Balls. He figured they may be useful at some point. As he was left the store, he spotted a poster on a wall. He approached the poster and read what it said:

 _"Are you a trainer looking for a challenge? Then come and test your strength against the Nugget Bridge challenge! Defeat 5 trainers and win a prize!"_ This challenge interested Ash very much. He checked the map in his trainer's guide, and saw that Nugget Bridge led to Cerulean Cape. He may as well take the challenge on the way. He turned to Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"You up for it buddy?" he asked.

"Pika!" he replied, with a thumbs up. With that, they went to find the others.

Brock had just left the super market he was shopping in. He had bought medicine for both humans and Pokémon, food, and other things he thought they may need. Misty and Leaf had finished their window shopping also, and had met up with Brock, and were now waiting for Ash. They didn't need to wait long though, as after about 2 minutes he found his friends. He told them about the Nugget Bridge challenge, and decided they would check it out the next day. But since it was starting to get late, they decided to spend the night at the Pokémon Center, well, apart from Misty, who wanted to sleep at her house.

The trio of Ash, Brock, and Leaf, rented a room at the Pokémon Center. They released their Pokémon in the room, all except Onix, for obvious reasons. Pikachu was sleeping on Ash's bed, Pidgeotto and Zubat were roosting on the bad posts, Charmander and Bulbasaur were playing together, Butterfree and Beedrill were discussing something, Geodude was also sleeping, and the two Nidoran were sitting together. Leaf thought they could possibly be in love, but didn't address it, in case it embarrassed them, or she was wrong. Ash was laying on his bed next to Pikachu, studying his Pokédex, reminding himself on his Pokémon's moves. Brock was in the small kitchen that was provided for trainers, preparing lunch for the next day. Leaf was sitting on her bed, brushing her long brown hair.

 _Ash found himself in the middle of an open field with no one else around._

 _"Brock? Leaf? Pikachu? Where are you guys!?" he called out, but got no answer. He heard something behind him and turned to see a shadowy figure. Ash assumed it was some type of Pokémon, but one like he had never seen before. What was weird was even though he was covered in shadows, there was nothing around to cast a shadow. The figure raised its hand and was about to launch an attack, when a giant ball of blue flames suddenly enveloped the figure. Ash looked up and saw a giant shining golden bird like Pokémon. It cawed loudly then flew away. Ash stood in awe. He couldn't believe what he just saw. Suddenly, Pikachu appeared front of him. "Pikachu! Where have youAHHH!" he started before Pikachu hit him with a Thunder Shock._

Ash opened his eyes to find he was back in his bed, hugging Pikachu so tightly, he couldn't take it anymore and released a Thunder Shock. Leaf and Brock stood over him, staring at the scene.

"Ash, are you okay?" Brock asked with concern. Ash released his grip on Pikachu and sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just had a weird dream" he replied.

"Okay then, get ready to leave, we're meeting up with Misty in an hour" Brock explained, as he recalled Geodude and Zubat. Leaf finished repacking her bag and recalled her Pokémon as well. Ash got up and headed for the bathroom for a quick shower. The whole time he was getting ready, he couldn't help but think about the golden Pokémon from his dream, as well as the strange figure that was attacking him. _'I should probably ask Professor Oak when I get the chance…'_ he thought to himself. He tried to push the thoughts out of his head for now. After they met up with Misty and got breakfast, they would start heading for Nugget Bridge and Cerulean Cape, which got the boy excited.

 _'Watch out Nugget Bridge, cause Ash Ketchum is coming!'_ he thought to himself.

The group had met up with Misty, and had finished their breakfast. They were now finally going to Nugget Bridge. When they got close, they saw a lady sitting at a table, with a sign which read: _  
_

 _"Nugget Bridge Challenge! Sign up here!"_ Immediately, Brock ran towards her with hearts in his eyes.

"Here we go…" Ash said to the girls.

"The Nugget Bridge is nice and all, but I think we should go across the bridge of love together!" Brock flirted, before being grabbed by the ear by Misty.

"The only bridge your crossing, is the one to a restraining order" she told him, he only responded with "Not the ear…" The two Pallet Town trainers looked on while sweat-dropping. The pair approached the woman.

"Um, excuse me, we would like to sign up for the challenge" Ash said politely.

"Of course!" the lady replied, "Just write your names down on this sheet, as well as a list of the Pokémon currently with you" she told them. They did as they were told, thanked the woman, and stepped onto Nugget Bridge. The woman smirked as they left the table, she pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"Sir, it's those kids from Mount Moon, they're taking the challenge" she said into the walkie-talkie. _"Good"_ a male voice replied back, _"They will not stop us this time."_

The group walked towards the first trainer on the bridge. He was dressed like a Bug Catcher, and was holding a net. He saw the group and got ready for battle.

"Hi!" Ash greeted the boy, "I'm Ash, and this is Leaf, we're taking the challenge" he explained.

"Okay, get ready, cause I'm the first trainer, the name's Cale by the way" he told them. Ash was battling first. Cale released his Venonat, a bug and poison type that looked like a purple, fluffy ball.

"Alright, Pidgeotto, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as he released the flying type. "Pidgeotto, use Gust!" Ash ordered, Pidgeotto flapped its wings and sent the Gust at Venonat, who was to slow to dodge.

"Venonat, use Confusion!" Cale ordered. Venonat's eyes glowed blue, and then Pidgeotto was surrounded but the same energy. Venonat slammed Pidgeotto into the ground. Ash had to think of something fast or he could lose, but luckily, he thought of something.

"Quick, use Sand Attack!" Ash instructed. Pidgeotto flapped its wings on the ground and sent sand right into the Insect Pokémon's eyes. Venonat lost its concentration and released Pidgeotto. "Use Wing Attack, let's go!" Ash commanded. Pidgeotto's wings glowed white and hit Venonat with them. Venonat then collapsed on the ground, unable to battle.

"Alright, we did it!" Ash cheered, "Pika!" Pikachu joined in. Cale recalled Venonat.

"Wow Ash, your Pidgeotto is strong" he commended.

"Thanks!" Ash replied. "Alright, your next, Leaf was it?" Cale said pointing at Leaf.

"Alright, let's do this!" she exclaimed. This battle didn't last long either; Leaf used Butterfree, while Cale used a Paras, which was quickly knocked out by Butterfree's Gust attack.

The next 8 battles went by just as quickly, which everyone thought was a bit odd. They finally reached the end of the bridge, and were greeted by a man wearing a zipped up, black hoodie. Green-ish blue hair could be seen underneath it.

"Greetings trainers" he greeted, an evil smirk hidden beneath his hood, "Congratulations on making it this far, but this will be as far as you go" he finished.

"What?" Ash asked in confusion. The man took his hoodie up and threw it on the ground, revealing what he was wearing underneath. The group looked in shock at what they saw. He wore a black shirt with an all so familiar logo printed on it: a big, red "R". Suddenly 4 Team Rocket grunts appeared and surrounded the group.

"Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed, "PiPi-kachu!" added Pikachu.

The man smirked, "My name is Proton. I've heard about you kids, I don't appreciate you interfering with our plans at Mt. Moon, so now you need to be punished" Proton told the group, as he released two Pokémon. The first Pokémon looked very similar to a Koffing, but was a lot bigger, and had a smaller second head. "Weeeezing!" it wheezed. Ash scanned it with his Pokédex.

 _"Weezing, the Poison Gas Pokémon, and the evolved form of Koffing. It grows by feeding on gases released by garbage. Though very rare, triplets have been found"_ stated the Pokédex. The second one was similar to Zubat, but a lot bigger as well. It had a huge gapping mouth and thin feet, and unlike Zubat, had eyes. It was a Golbat. Once again, Ash scanned the Pokémon.

 _"Golbat, the Bat Pokémon, and the evolved form of Zubat. Being nocturnal, Golbat fly at night in search of prey"_. The grunts released their Pokémon as well, an Ekans, Raticate, Drowzee, and a Machop. Ash turned to his friends, and saw them sending out their Pokémon as well, Brock released Onix, Misty released Staryu, and Leaf released Bulbasaur.

"You guys take the grunts, I'll take Proton" said Ash, which his companions nodded in agreement. Ash turned to Pikachu on his shoulder, who nodded back to him, telling it's trainer it was ready to fight. Ash also released Charmander, who growled at the man wearing the familiar uniform. "Pikachu, Electro Ball! Charmander, Ember!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu quickly charged up it's Electro Ball, and launched it at Golbat. Charmander meanwhile fired a barrage of small fire balls at Weezing.

"Heh, Golbat avoid, Weezing, block with Smog" Proton ordered. Golbat flew out of the way of the incoming electric attack at a great speed, while Weezing released a thick Smog attack to block Charmander's attack.

"Well that's not gonna work…" Ash muttered to himself. Meanwhile, Onix was taking both Raticate and Drowzee on at once, Staryu was fighting Ekans, while Bulbasaur was fighting Machop. Ash tried to think of his Pokémon's moves.

 _'I have to slow Golbat down somehow… Wait! That's it!'_ Ash thought to himself.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack, and when you hit Golbat, use Thunder Wave!" Ash ordered. Pikachu sprinted towards Golbat, then jumped and rammed into the bat Pokémon, and released a stream of electricity from its cheeks, instantly paralysing the foe. Golbat flinched at the electricity moving through its body, and struggled to stay in the air. That should take care of Golbat, but what about Weezing? Ash had been training Charmander to learn a stronger fire attack, and it was going pretty well, but Ash didn't know if it would work now.

Deciding to take the risk, "Charmander, try Flame Burst!" he commanded. The Lizard Pokémon was nervous about using the attack, but if Ash thought it work, then it did too! Charmander breathed in, and then fired a larger fire ball than it did with Ember, at Weezing. The Poison Gas Pokémon tried to defend with Smog again, but was surprised when the fire type's attack went straight through it, and caused an explosion when it hit the poison type. Weezing fell to the ground unable to continue fighting, and Proton recalled it. That took care of Weezing, now to finish of Golbat!

The rest of the groups Pokémon had just finished defeating the grunt's Pokémon.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball again!" Ash ordered, this time, the attack hit its target, as the bat Pokémon was to slow to dodge, due to being paralysed. Golbat fell to the ground also unable to battle. Proton glared at Ash in anger, before smirking.

"What's so funny, Proton?" Ash questioned.

"I must admit I'm impressed with your strength, and I surrender" the Rocket Executive admitted before adding "for now". Suddenly a rope ladder fell to the ground, which Proton grabbed onto. The group looked up to see a black helicopter with the Team Rocket logo painted on the side.

"We will meet again, Ash Ketchum. And when we do, you will not win" Proton exclaimed, as the helicopter flew off. Ash growled as he watched the helicopter fly away. He then noticed the Rocket grunts were left behind, and had been put to sleep with Leaf's Bulbasaur's Sleep Powder. Brock called the police on his Pokégear, while Leaf released Butterfree to tie them up with String Shot, like it did at Mt. Moon. It take long before the Police arrived, led by Officer Jenny. Brock immediately tried to flirt with the officer, but was dragged off by Misty. The policewoman thanked the group for capture the Rocket members for her, before leaving, taking the grunts with them.

As the group continued on their way to Cerulean Cape, a pair of red eyes watched them from some bushes. The boy in the red hat had definitely attracted the owner of the eyes' attention.

"Bulba..." it muttered to itself, as it turned away and headed back to it's home. It knew it had seen some of those trainers, somewhere before...


	8. Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village!

It was around 12:30, and the quartet of Ash, Misty, Brock, and Leaf were currently eating lunch with their Pokémon. Brock had easily made enough food for everyone, even enough for Ash to have seconds… or thirds… or maybe even a fourth helping. Just as Misty was about to take a bite of her sandwich, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it, and saw it was a small blue Pokémon, with three, green leaves sticking out of the top of it's head. It was currently drinking from a puddle, not even noticing the humans and their Pokémon. Ash also spotted it and didn't even need to scan it with his Pokédex, as he had lived with one his whole life! It was an Oddish.

"It's so cute!" Misty squealed, "I'm gonna catch it!" she announced.

"But Misty, Oddish isn't a Water type" Ash stated sarcastically, knowing (or at least assuming) she knew that.

"I know!" she snapped back, "But just because I'm a Water Pokémon trainer, doesn't mean I can't catch other types!" she turned back to the Grass type.

"Misty calls, Poliwag!" Misty called, as she released her tadpole Pokémon,

"Poli!" it cried. Oddish finally noticed the humans, and instantly became frightened; it hadn't seen any humans before, except for one.

"Poliwag, use Ice Beam!" Misty ordered, an orb of ice formed from Poliwag's mouth, and became a beam as it was fired toward the Weed Pokémon. However the attack never made contact, as an Energy Ball was launched from seemingly nowhere, and completely blocked the attack. The group turned to the direction the Energy Ball came from, and saw a different Pokémon, a Bulbasaur.

"Whoa, it's a Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed, if he wasn't able to get Charmander when he started his journey, Bulbasaur would have been his next choice, and now he may get the chance catch one. Just as Ash went to approach the Starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur launched another Energy Ball to keep the trainer back, before grabbing Oddish with Vine Whip and escaping with it. Both Ash and Misty sighed in disappointed at them missing the chance to capture the Grass types.

"Oh well, you two" Brock said as he came up behind them, "There's always next time".

Ash sighed again, "Yeah, I guess your right…" he replied, clearly still disappointed.

"I guess we should finish our lunch, and then head off again" Brock suggested. The group agreed and went back to eating.

As Bulbasaur ran through the woods it couldn't help but think of the humans it just encountered. It knew it had seen the boy with the red cap, as well as the girl with the white hat for that matter, and it wasn't just from watching them defeat those men in the black uniforms at the Nugget Bridge the previous day. It thought back to it's time in Professor Oak's lab a few years ago. It remembered playing with four kids, two of them very much resembling the two trainers it had just seen. It also remembered a boy with brown spikey hair that it believed may have been the professor's grandson. The other was another girl with long honey coloured hair, but had only seen her one or two times, while it had played with the other three many times.

' _Could those trainers actually be those same kids?'_ it thought to itself.

The group had finished their lunch, and had begun on their way once more. Before long, they arrived at a rope bridge which was suspended over a rather deep crevice, with a river running through it.

"Well, seems to be the only way across…" Brock stated. The rest of the group nodded and began to cross. When they were about half way across, a strong wind blew, and with the ropes, clearly not being very strong, they ripped and the bridge began to collapse. Brock, Misty, Leaf and Pikachu managed to grab onto the broken bridge, Ash however, wasn't so lucky. He was unable to grab onto the bridge in time, and fell into the river below.

"ASH! PIKA PI!" the trainers and Pikachu cried, as they watched their friend fall into the crevice below.

"Urrr…" Ash muttered. He remembered falling from the bridge, and his friends crying out for him, but everything after that was a complete blur. He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a bed. He sat up slowly so he didn't get dizzy, and looked around. He appeared to be inside a log cabin.

"Bulba" a voice said. Ash looked down towards the sound and saw a Bulbasaur staring up at him.

"Bulbasaur? Are you the same one from earlier?" Ash asked, receiving a nod in response. _'Did Bulbasaur save me?"_ he thought to himself, but after it attacking him earlier, why would it want to help him? Suddenly the sound of an opening door caught Ash's attention, and he turned to see a girl walking in. She had long, blue hair which was done in a ponytail with a green bow. She wore a pink t-shirt and red overalls.

"Ah! You're finally awake!" the girl said with a smile.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Ash asked. The girl smiled at him and handed him a glass of water.

"My name's Melanie, I care for lost, injured, or abandoned Pokémon" she explained. "This place doesn't really have a name, as no one is ever here, besides me, but I usually call it the Hidden Village".

Ash suddenly remembered he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum" he introduced himself. Melanie smiled at the boy.

"It's nice to meet you Ash, but it would have been nicer to meet under better circumstances" the girl replied.

"So, did you save me? Ash asked. Melanie shook her head and pointed to the grass type standing next to her.

"No, he did" she stated. Ash was a little shocked, after he and Misty tried to capture him and Oddish, it still helped him?

"Really? That kinda surprises me…" Ash stated.

"Huh? Why?" Melanie asked.

"Well, earlier my friend attempted to catch an Oddish, but Bulbasaur stopped her, attacked us with Energy Ball, and escaped with it" Ash explained.

"Ah, you see, Bulbasaur helps protect the Pokémon I take care of, and it sometimes gets a little over-protective" Melanie explained. As Bulbasaur watched the boy, he finally determined that this was the same boy he had met and played with at Oak's laboratory, about four years ago. But it seemed that Ash didn't remember him, and he didn't know how to tell the boy that they had met in the past. If only there was a way to speak to him…

Ash finally had finally gotten out of bed, and had sent Pidgeotto and Beedrill to find his friends. Ash was impressed by the amount of Pokémon in the clearing that Melanie took care of, there was a Bellsprout, an Caterpie, a couple of Rattata, a Paras, a Staryu, a Magikarp, and an Oddish, which he assumed was the same one Misty attempted to catch. Ash watched Melanie take care of the wild Pokémon, healing any injuries they had, or even just feed them. After about ten minutes, Pidgeotto and Beedrill returned, with Brock, Misty, Leaf following, with Pikachu sitting on Leaf's shoulder.

"Ash, There you are!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and the others ran up to Ash.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried as it jumped into Ash's arms.

"Ash, I'm glad you're safe" said Brock.

"It's all thanks to a certain Pokémon" Ash said, gesturing to Bulbasaur behind him.

"Is that the same Bulbasaur?" Misty questioned.

"Uh huh, it saved me from the river" Ash confirmed.

Misty looked to the side and saw an Oddish drinking from the lake, "Is that the same Oddish too?" she asked.

"Yep" Ash replied. Misty walked over to the Oddish and kneeled down.

"Sorry about what happened earlier, I shouldn't have surprised you like that, you must have been scared" she apologised, Oddish nodded. "I apologise for what I did, and I hope we can become friends" she said tearing up a little. Oddish wiped away Misty's tears with one of it's leaves. "Oh, your sweet Oddish, I am sorry" Misty apologised again, hugging the small grass type.

Suddenly, a scream was heard coming from the other side of the clearing.

"That's Melanie!" Ash exclaimed.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried, as it ran towards the scream. Ash took off after it.

"Ash, wait!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and the others ran after him.

Ash and Bulbasaur arrived at the other side of the clearing to find Melanie surrounded by an angry looking Ekans, Koffing, Weepinbell and Tentacool.

"What's going on here?" Ash exclaimed.

Jessie: "Prepare for trouble, the answer is clear"

James: "Make it double, revenge is near"

Jessie: "To protect the world from devastation!"

James: "To unite all people within our nation!"

Jessie: "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

James: "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Jessie: "Jessie!"

James: "James!"

Jessie: "Team Rocket, blasts of at the speed of light!"

James: "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

Meowth: "Meowth, dat's right!

"Team Rocket?!" exclaimed Ash.

"Hey there twerp" said James, "it's a good thing we followed you after you beat Proton, because we were able to find this goldmine!"

The trio had the Pokémon Melanie looks after in a net hanging from their Meowth shaped hot air balloon.

"Give back those Pokémon!" Ash demanded.

"No way, twerp! Ekans, Tentacool, use Poison Sting! Jessie ordered.

Ekans and Tentacool fired multiple glowing, purple needles in Ash's direction.

"Pikachu, quick, Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. Pikachu leapt off of Ash's shoulder, as he charged up it's attack. It did a front flip, before launching the attack blocking the attack and hitting Tentacool.

"Wait… where's… Gah!" Ash yelped, Ekans had slithered up behind him and had wrapped itself around his neck. Bulbasaur saw this and fired an Energy Ball at Ekans' head, making it lose it's grip on Ash.

Ash gasped for air, "Th-thanks, Bulbasaur…" Ash managed to get out. Brock, Misty, and Leaf arrived.

"Hey, those are the same Rocket's from Viridian City!" Misty exclaimed. Meowth spotted the new arrivals.

"It seems with have company" he informed his partners.

"Koffing, Weepinbell, get them!" James ordered. The pair of poison types went to tackle the trainers but Misty and Leaf had already called out Staryu and Butterfree.

"Staryu, use Water Gun!"

"Butterfree, Gust attack!"

The pair of Pokémon launched their attacks, stopping the Poison types in the tracks. "Nice work!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and Misty high fived.

"Grr, Meowth! Your turn!" Jessie growled, grabbing Meowth by the head and throwing towards Ash.

"Wait! I don't battle!" Meowth cried as he flew through the air. He didn't stay in the air much longer though.

"Bulbasaur, Energy Ball!" Ash ordered. Bulbasaur was happy to oblige. He formed the attack and fired, hitting Meowth in the forehead, sending him flying backwards and into James' stomach.

Jessie started turning red in anger. "Why can't we win!?" she shouted.

"Maybe because evil never wins!" Ash exclaimed with a smirk. "Now, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, send them flying with Electro Ball and Energy Ball!"

The two Pokémon formed their respective balls of energy, and fired them straight at Team Rocket. A big explosion erupted around them and they were sent hurtling into the air.

"We lost again…" James stated sadly.

"This is your fault!" Jessie yelled.

"Well whoever's fault it is, we're still…" Meowth started.

"Blasting off again!" They all screamed together.

"Pidgeotto, cut the net open with Steel Wing!" Ash ordered. Pidgeotto obeyed and easily cut the net, freeing the Pokémon inside.

"Thank you everyone, without you they would have taken the Pokémon!" Melanie thanked.

"No problem!" said Ash.

"You and Bulbasaur seemed to work really well together" Misty stated.

Melanie nodded, "I agree, Ash, don't you think Bulbasaur would make a great addition to your team?" she asked.

"Would he ever!" Ash exclaimed.

"I think Bulbasaur should go with you" stated Melanie.

"Huh?"

Melanie picked up the grass type starter. "Bulbasaur stayed here to protect the weaker Pokémon, but this village is too small, the bulb on it's back can't grow, it needs to go out into the world now, and I know you'll take good care of it" she explained. "Please do me this favour, take Bulbasaur with you on your journey, he'll be a good companion".

"But what'll happen to the village without Bulbasaur?" asked Misty.

"Yeah, who's going to protect you?" Brock added.

"It's true that Bulbasaur has done a great job, maybe too great a job" Melanie replied, "See these Pokémon shouldn't remain in this village forever and ever, after they recover, the Pokémon are supposed to leave, but it's to safe here, so none of them want to leave, they don't want to return to the outside world, but I think it's important that they return to the wild, that's where Pokémon belong, and hopefully someday, they'll find good trainers like you" she explained.

"Of course taking care of sick Pokémon will always be my mission, but I know my job isn't finished until they return to where they came from, so it's the time a Pokémon leaves, that is the most rewarding for me."

"Melanie I-" Brock started.

"You see so it's time for Bulbasaur to leave here, so please take it with you, it won't be a burden, I promise. Bulbasaur still has a lot of growing to do, I want it to be in a place where it can grow strong and happy, and I'm sure that place is with you, Ash" Melanie finished.

"Well, if you really want me to-" Ash began saying before he was cut off by Bulbasaur saying something, to which Melanie giggled in response.

"What'd it say?" Ash asked.

"Bulbasaur will join you on one condition, it wants to battle you first, right Bulbasaur?" Melanie asked, to which it nodded yes.

"Well, okay then! If you want a battle you'll get one!" Ash exclaimed.

A few moments later, Ash and Bulbasaur stood across from one another. "Nidoran, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as he released his poison rabbit-like Pokémon. "Use Peck!" he ordered.

Nidoran started running towards Bulbasaur, aiming his horn straight at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur immediately retaliated with it's Vine Whip, making Nidoran jump out of the way, then quickly changed to a Tackle attack.

"Nidoran! Look out!" Ash warned, but the grass type was too fast, and hit Nidoran with another Tackle. "Quick, Poison Sting!" Ash ordered. Nidoran fired a barrage of glowing purple needles at Bulbasaur which sent it flying backwards a bit. Bulbasaur quickly recovered, and grabbed Nidoran with Vine Whip, slammed him into the ground and then fired an Energy Ball.

"Quick, counter with Water Pulse!" Ash instructed, which Nidoran managed to do. "Now, time to use that new move we've been working on, use Shock Wave!"

Nidoran charged up electricity in his body, and then discharged it through Bulbasaur's vines, electrocuting it. Bulbasaur fell on it's side stunned (literally).

"All right, Poké Ball, go!" Ash exclaimed as he threw his Poké Ball at Bulbasaur, sucking it inside. The ball shook a couple of times before becoming still.

"Yes! I caught Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu added.

"I'll miss you, Bulbasaur" Melanie said sadly.

"I promise to take good care of Bulbasaur" Ash promised.

Melanie kneeled down to pet Bulbasaur, "Bulbasaur, thank you for watching over us" she thanked.

Brock stepped forward, "Uh, Melanie, I've been thinking"

"Yes?"

"Well, since Bulbasaur's leaving, I wouldn't mind staying and helping you out" Brock stated.

"That's very kind of you, but we'll be okay, I wouldn't want to keep you from your wonderful travels" she replied with a smile.

"Oh, yeah, I guess your right" Brock said obviously disappointed, ' _At least Misty didn't get to pull me away this time'_ he thought to himself.

"Goodbye Melanie" Ash said waving as he started walking, followed by his friends. Melanie and the other Pokémon waved back, all except for one, Oddish. Oddish just stood there, watching a certain redhead walking away. Suddenly it ran off after the group.

"Huh?" said Misty when she felt something touch her leg, "Oddish? What are you?" Oddish gestured to Misty's Poké Balls on her belt, "Do you want to come with me?" Misty asked.

"Oddish!" it replied happily. "Okay then, welcome to the team, Oddish!" Misty exclaimed, touching Oddish on the head with an empty Poké Ball, capturing it almost immediately.

"Looks like we both caught new Pokémon today, huh Misty?" Ash said, "Yup!" Misty replied cheerfully. "Now, onto Cerulean Cape!" Ash exclaimed.

 **Author's Notes**

 **This chapter REALLY should have been finished ages ago, but procrastination struck, and I didn't finish it until the day I'm uploading it. Well, anyway, I've decided to start doing authors notes which I've seen many people do. Onto the chapter. Ash has finally caught Bulbasaur, and Misty caught Oddish. I hope people find interest in Bulbasaur's backstory with Ash. I will be going deeper into it at some point, when I find a suitable way how. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to get the next one up soon, emphasis on "hope". I really don't know when the next one will be coming. Also, thanks to everyone who has followed, and left reviews and favourites. Thank you for the support, and I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out.**


	9. Training Days Part 1

Chapter 9: Training Days Part 1

"We finally made it!" Ash exclaimed. After a few days of travelling, the group had finally arrived at Cerulean Cape, the sight of the Cape Tournament, though the competition was still 2 days away, Ash, as always, was fired up and determined to win.

"We'd better get registered before we do anything else" suggested Brock.

"Uh huh" responded Ash, "then I can get to training!"

"Pika!" added Pikachu.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get registered!" exclaimed Misty.

The group arrived at a counter, with a woman and man running it. "Uh, hi!" Ash greeted, "We'd like to register for the tournament please!"

"Of course, please fill out these forms" instructed the woman with a smile. She handed the group a form each, which looked like:

 _Name: __

 _Hometown: __

 _Pokémon (You can only use up to 3 in the tournament):_

 _Pokémon 1: __

 _Pokémon 2: __

 _Pokémon 3: __

 _Pokémon 4: __

 _Pokémon 5: __

 _Pokémon 6: __

The group filled out the forms quickly, and handed them back to the woman. "Thank you, you are all now registered, good luck in the tournament!" said the woman with a smile.

"Thanks!" the group replied in unison.

"Alright, everyone come on out!" Ash exclaimed, throwing all of his Pokémon into the air, releasing Charmander, Pidgeotto, Beedrill, Nidoran, and Bulbasaur.

Misty, Brock, and Leaf also released their Pokémon, and went off to separate spots to training by themselves.

"Alright everyone, there's a tournament in 2 days that we're entering so we gotta do some training!" Ash explained. "You up to it?" he asked.

All of the Pokémon cheered, clearly also fired up. "Okay then, let's get started!" Ash exclaimed.

Ash told each of his Pokémon what he wanted them to concentrate on with their training, and told them he would have short sessions with each of them.

Pikachu would focus on upgrading Thunder Shock to Thunderbolt, Charmander would work on learning Dragon Rage, Pidgeotto would focus on learning Twister, Beedrill would learn Pin Missile, Nidoran would work on Poison Jab. Bulbasaur would be the first Pokémon Ash would have a training session with.

The other Pokémon went off train, while Bulbasaur stayed with Ash. "Alright, Bulbasaur, let's see all the moves you know" said Ash, pulling out his Pokédex. " _Bulbasaur's known moves are: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Sleep Powder, and Energy Ball."_

"Okay, that's a pretty good set of moves, but there isn't much type diversity…" Ash pointed out. "Maybe we should have you learn a poison attack?" Ash looked at his Pokédex once more and looked up the poison type moves Bulbasaur can learn.

" _The Poison type moves Bulbasaur can learn are:_

 _Poison Powder_

 _Toxic_

 _Venoshock_

 _Sludge Bomb_

 _Sludge"_

"Alright, how about Sludge?"

Ash looked up the description of the move. _"Toxic sludge is hurled at the foe. It may poison the target. A Bulbasaur can use this move by focusing its poison abilities in it bulb, and then launch it at the opponent."_

"So, what do you think, Bulbasaur?"

Bulbasaur thought for a second. "Bulba!" It replied with a nod.

"Alright, let's get to work then!"

 ** _Author's notes:_**

 _A shorter chapter today, but part 2 should (hopefully) be coming soon. Part 2 will show Misty, Brock, and Leaf's training and preparation for the tournament, as well as the results of Ash's training._


	10. Training Days Part 2

Misty reached the bay area of Cerulean Cape. Her Pokémon all jumped straight into the ocean (all but Oddish that is). Misty quickly changed into a blue two-piece swimsuit, and jumped into the water as well.

"Okay everyone, let's get to work!" Misty exclaimed. The 4 Pokémon all let out a cry of agreement. "Alright, Goldeen, I want you to learn Ice Beam. Poliwag, can you help it out?" Misty asked.

"Poli!" replied Poliwag happily, and swam of with Goldeen.

"Staryu, you need some more variety in your moves, you only have Water and Normal moves" Misty stated, "So let's try to teach you Thunderbolt".

"Hyahh!" responded Staryu.

Misty got out of the water, and walked over to, and picked up Oddish. "Oddish, it may be too soon for you to battle…" said Misty, "I also don't have much experience with Grass types…" she admitted.

"You may have to sit on the side lines, at least for a little bit" said Misty. Oddish sighed, but nodded.

"Thanks for understanding, Oddish. I promise you'll get to battle soon" Misty promised.

(Later)

"Growlithe, Ember!" a female voice called from further down the beach. Misty turned to see a Growlithe attacking a rock with an Ember attack. About a metre away, stood a girl, presumably the fire type's trainer. She appeared to be around the same age as Misty, she had long auburn hair which she wore pigtails. She wore a crimson beanie with a black Poké Ball mark, a black vest, a white tank top, and blue jeans.

"Who's that?" wondered Misty out loud.

"Great Growlithe, now Heat Wave!" The girl ordered. Growlithe began focusing hard and then let out a large, uncontrolled wave of heat. The radius of the attack was so large that Oddish's leaves caught on fire. Oddish began to run around in panic.

"Ah! Oddish quick, put your leaves in the water!" Misty instructed. Oddish quickly did as it was told, and sighed in relief once the flames were out.

Relieved that Oddish was fine, Misty turned and glared out the girl, and started stomping towards her. "HEY!" she yelled.

"Huh?" The girl said in surprise and turned to see the redhead coming towards with a mad look on her face.

"That attack made my Oddish's leaves catch on fire!" Misty informed to girl, anger clear in her voice.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that, Growlithe kinda has problems controlling Heat Wave, but I'm sure it'll get the hang of it eventually" the girl explained.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Misty asked.

"Because, I plan to be the best fire type trainer in the world, so I have to be able to help it master a fire attack" the girl replied proudly.

"Oh really now? Well I plan on being the number one water type trainer" Misty responded.

"Oh, and you plan on doing that with an Oddish?" the girl asked sarcastically.

"For your information, Oddish is my only non-water type!" Misty shot back, "my other 3 Pokémon are water type"

"Whatever, water types are nothing special anyway" the girl responded.

Misty's eyebrow twitched, "What was that!" Misty yelled back angrily.

"You heard me, fire types are so much better" the girl said with a smirk.

Misty decided she definitely did NOT like this girl. "Who do you think you are?!" Misty yelled.

"The name's Amber Fiamma, from Cinnabar Island, now who are you?"

"Misty Mizuyawa, one of the Cerulean City Gym Leaders" Misty replied with pride.

"Ha! You? A Gym Leader? Don't make me laugh!" Amber retorted, with a laugh.

Misty was really getting angry now.

"Grr… You wanna prove fire types are better? Fine! Let's battle, right now!" Misty yelled.

Amber smirked "You entering Cape tournament?" she asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Misty asked.

"I am too, so let's wait till we get matched up in the tournament" Amber suggested.

"Fine by me!" Misty agreed.

"See ya then, come on Growlithe" Amber said as she walked off with Growlithe following behind. "Oh Misty, try not to lose before we get to battle" she instructed before leaving the beach.

Misty growled as she watched Amber leave, but was interrupted when she heard a small "Odd?" from below. She looked down to see Oddish and Poliwag looking up at their trainer with concern.

"Don't worry you two, I'm fine, she just rubs me the wrong way, that's all" she assured, as she crouched down and pet the two blue Pokémon.

Misty entered the Pokémon Center and found her friends sitting in the cafeteria, with Ash and Pikachu stuffing their faces, as usual. She walked over to their table, and sat down next to Leaf with a huff.

"Hey Misty, tough day?" Leaf asked.

Misty sighed, "No, not really. I just met this girl who thinks fire types are better than water types" she answered.

"Oh, anyway, how'd your training go?" Leaf inquired.

"Pretty good actually" Misty replied, "Goldeen's starting to get the hang of Ice Beam, thanks to Poliwag, but Staryu is having some trouble with Thunderbolt" Misty explained "hey Ash, you think Pikachu could help it out later?" she asked.

"Sure Mist, right, Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu answered, giving a "thumbs" up.

"Thanks Pikachu" Misty thanked, "so, how did you guy's training go?" she asked.

"Mine went pretty well, Geodude and Onix both learned Rock Tomb and Zubat's working on learning Confuse Ray" Brock explained.

Leaf spoke up next. "As for me, Butterfree learned Silver Wind, and Bulbasaur learned Razor Leaf."

"I guess that just leaves me" stated Ash. "Pikachu perfected Thunderbolt, Charmander making decent progress with Dragon Rage, Pidgeotto learned Twister, Beedrill learned Pin Missile, Nidoran hasn't gotten the hang of Poison Jab yet, and Bulbasaur is working on learning Sludge, but still has a bit to go."

"I'd say our training days went pretty well, wouldn't you say?" Brock asked.

"I agree with you there Brocko" Ash replied, "I say, since the tournament doesn't start for another day, we relax tomorrow" he suggested.

"Sounds good to me" replied Misty, "hopefully it will help me get my mind of that Amber girl…"

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

 _I know this took longer to come out than it really should have, but hey. I should probably say I procrastinate, like, a lot. So don't expect frequent updates (as much as I would like to update often…)_

 _Anyway, I was originally going to show Brock and Leaf's training, but ultimately decided to just focus on Misty. After all, I mostly just make these up as I go, though I do start with an idea in mind. But I kinda forgot I needed to introduce Amber, who if you couldn't tell, is going to be Misty's rival, for probably up until the end of Johto, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Amber was kinda based on Macy, who was one of Ash's opponents in the Johto League, who had a crush on Ash. Amber isn't going to have a crush on Ash though._

 _Next chapter will more than likely be the start of the Cape Tournament, though when that comes out I have no idea. Soooo, yeah… Umm, see you next time I guess!_


	11. Cape Tournament! Round One!

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the annual Cerulean Cape Battle Tournament!" The announcer exclaimed. It was finally the day of the Cape tournament. "We have many trainers, from all over the region competing here today, so let's get started!"

"You're up first Misty, you ready?" asked Ash. "You bet!" replied Misty. The group of trainers were seated in the waiting room, waiting for their turn to battle. _"Will the first competitors please report to the battle field"_ the announcer's voice came through the speakers.

"I guess I'm up. Wish me luck guys!" Misty said as she stood up. "Good luck Misty!" encouraged Leaf. "Don't lose!" Ash added. "Thanks guys, I better get to the field, see ya after the battle!"

"It's time for the first battle to begin! On one side we have Misty Mizuyawa from Cerulean City, and on the other, Eva Carson from Saffron City!" the announcer exclaimed. Misty and Eva stood facing each other from opposite sides of the battlefield. A referee took his place at the side of the field. "We will now use the Coin Toss Pokétch app, to see which trainer gets the first move" the referee announced, "heads will be Misty, and tails will be Eva!" he explained. He pressed the button on the Pokétch to initiate the coin toss. The digital coin on the spring flipped a few times, before coming to a stop on the side with a picture of a Magikarp. "It's heads! Which means Misty of Cerulean City will have the first move, please send out your Pokémon!" said the referee.

"Alright, Misty calls, Staryu!" Misty exclaimed as she tossed Staryu's Poké Ball, releasing the starfish Pokémon inside. "Nidorina, you're up!" said Eva as she released the Poison type.

"Ready?" asked the referee. Both girls nodded, "Okay, begin!"

"Staryu, Water Gun!" Misty ordered. Staryu released a strong blast of water from its top point. "Nidorina, avoid and use Poison Sting!" Eva commanded. Nidorina jumped out of the way of the jet of water, and then fired multiple of glowing, purple needles from her horn towards Staryu. "Deflect it with Rapid Spin while using Water Gun!" Misty instructed. Staryu began to spin through the air while shooting water from all five of its points. The Poison Sting hit the water and disappeared, "Now, Bubble Beam!" Misty ordered. "Nidorina, Double Team!" Eva instructed. Multiple copies of Nidorina appeared all over the field; the Bubble Beam hit one, but passed straight through it. _Great, now I can't tell which the real one is!_ Misty thought to herself. What could she do, she had no way of knowing which Nidorina was the real one, unless… that's it! "Staryu, use Swift!" Misty ordered. "Uh-oh, Nidorina, quick run around!" Eva called out panicked, Nidorina and her clones began to run about randomly to try to avoid the Swift, but there was no use. The golden stars flew straight towards the real Nidorina, causing damage to her, and causing the Double Team to disappear. "Great job, Staryu, now finish it with Bubble Beam!" Misty instructed. Staryu fired a barrage of bubbles from its jewel at the still down Nidorina. Eva tried to get Nidorina to dodge, but it was too late, and Nidorina was knocked out by Staryu's attack. "Nidorina is unable to battle, Staryu is the winner, which means the match goes to Misty of Cerulean City!" the referee announced.

"Yes! We did it Staryu!" Misty exclaimed as she ran onto the field to hug her Pokémon. "Hyaah!" it responded happily (or at least as happy as a Staryu could). "And with that, Misty Mizuyawa wins the first battle of the tournament!" exclaimed the announcer, "Would the next trainers please make their way to the battlefield!" As Misty exited the arena and headed back to the waiting area, she ran into Leaf on her way to the field. "Good luck, Leaf" Misty said, "Thanks" replied Leaf, as the two high-fived as they passed each other.

Leaf faced a trainer named Jordan who had a Hitmonlee, using Butterfree, which she won thanks to Butterfree's type advantage over the fighting type. Next up to battle was Ash. He stood on one side of the field facing his opponent, a boy named Shaun. The coin flip landed on tails, allowing Shaun to get the first move.

"Go Ivysaur!" Shaun exclaimed as he released his Pokémon, which looked like a larger version of Bulbasaur, with the bulb blooming into a flower. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon. _"Ivysaur, the Seed Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bulbasaur. When the bud on its back starts swelling, a sweet aroma wafts to indicate the flower's coming bloom"_ said the device. "The evolved form of Bulbasaur… okay, Nidoran, I choose you!" Nidoran appeared from is ball in a flash of light.

"Ivysaur, start with Razor Leaf!" Shaun ordered, as he had the first move. "Counter with Poison Sting!" Ash instructed. Nidoran fired poisonous needles which collided with Ivysaur's Razor Leaf, stopping the attack. "Follow up with Double Kick, Nidoran!" Nidoran ran towards Ivysaur, and quickly kicked Ivysaur's head with his hind legs, then ran back towards his trainer. "Ivysaur, use Energy Ball!" Shaun commanded. A green ball of energy formed at the Pokémon's bud, as it prepared the fire the attack.

"Nidoran, counter with Water Pulse!" Ash ordered. A ball of water formed at Nidoran's horn and fired as Ivysaur launched the Energy Ball. The two attacks collided, causing an explosion. "Water Pulse again!" another Water Pulse formed and flew through the smoke from the explosion. The attack hit Ivysaur in the face, since it couldn't see where the attack was coming from thanks to the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Shaun ordered Ivysaur the use Vine Whip. Unfortunately for him, the Water Pulse's additional effect had activated, causing Ivysaur to become confused. Ivysaur began to use the attack, but ended up slapping itself with its own vines.

"Nidoran, Peck!" Ash ordered. Nidoran charged at the confused Grass type with his horn glowing white. The super effective attack did a good amount of damage to Ivysaur, but it still stood.

"Ivysaur snap out of it! Rapid fire Energy Ball!" cried Shaun. Ivysaur, though still confused, fired a barrage of Energy Balls randomly, with a few ending up hitting Nidoran. Nidoran flew backwards towards Ash.

"Nidoran!" Ash cried. The small purple Pokémon struggled to stand but he managed. Suddenly Nidoran began to glow a white-blue light. He began to change, his horn grew larger and sharper, his ears grew bigger as well. When the light faded, a new Pokémon stood where Nidoran was, which Ash quickly scanned with his Pokédex. _"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokémon, and the evolved form of the male Nidoran._ _Nidorino has a horn that is harder than a diamond. If it senses a hostile presence, all the barbs on its back bristle up at once, and it challenges the foe with all its might. Upon evolving, Nidorino learned the attacks: Poison Jab, Horn Attack, and Rock Smash"_

Ash grinned, "Alright, Nidorino! Use Poison Jab!" he ordered. Nidorino's horn glowed purple as it charged at Ivysaur, who had finally snapped out of confusion, but it was too late. Nidorino jabbed Ivysaur with his venomous horn, knocking it out.

"Ivysaur is unable to battle, Nidorino wins! The match goes to Ash of Pallet Town!" the referee announced.

"And there you have it folks, after a surprise evolution, Ash Ketchum wins the match!" the announcer exclaimed. Ash ran over to his victorious Pokémon and hugged him, making sure to be careful of the spikes on his back.

"You were great Nidorino!" Ash exclaimed. "Nido!" Nidorino cried in response.

Ash, Misty, and Leaf had all made it through to the second round, Brock however, wasn't as lucky. Geodude had been matched up against a Kadabra, and while Geodude had great defense against physical attacks, its special defense was nowhere near is good. It didn't take long before the Rock type had fallen to a Psybeam from the strong Psychic Pokémon, and Brock was knocked out of the tournament.

The group was now in the lobby of the Pokémon center close to the stadium, "Ah well, it's not like I'm a big battler anyway" stated Brock, "at least you three made it through." Misty glanced up at the screen showing the victors of the first round, spotting herself, Ash, and Leaf. She also noticed that Amber had made it through as well. She was determined to show the Fire type Trainer how strong Water types were, she needed to survive the tournament long enough to beat her, she had to.

 **So Brock didn't make it to the next round. That was mainly because I didn't want to write so many battles, which is also why I didn't show Leaf's battle. The tournament may take two chapters to finish, but it may finish in one chapter. After the tournament will be Squirtle's capture. Someone asked if Ash and Leaf were going to fall in love. Ash will not have a girlfriend for a long time, and Leaf isn't going to be a permanent companion, she will leave once the tournament is over, and will make appearances later.**

 **I've also decided to list everyone's teams at the end of each chapter from now on.**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**

 **Leaf:**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Butterfree (Female)**

 **Nidoran (Female)**


	12. Round 2! Pallet Town rival battle!

The group stood in front of a large screen. This screen would show the match ups for the next round of the tournament. Profile pictures of each of the trainers who had made it through suddenly appeared on the screen. Ash, Misty, and Leaf each scanned the screen for their images. Misty found hers first, next to her opponent, a boy named Scott. A few moments later, Ash and Leaf both found their pictures as well, right next to each other.

"Woah, Leaf, I guess that means we're battling each other" said Ash.

"Yeah…" replied the brunette, "Don't think I'm going easy on you, just because friends"

"You took the words out of my mouth!" Ash responded, "Ready to battle, Pikachu?" he asked his partner sitting on his shoulder.

"Pika!" the mouse Pokémon replied.

* * *

"All right folks, it's time for the next battle in the second round!" stated the announcer, "On one side, we have Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and on the other, Leaf Yukiko, also from Pallet Town!"

The referee took his place at the side of the field. He then used the Coin Toss app, which landed on heads, meaning Leaf had the first move. "Trainers, choose your Pokémon!"

"Butterfree, go!" Leaf cried, as she threw her Poké Ball and released her Bug type.

"Butterfree, huh? All right, Pidgeotto, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed.

The referee nodded, "Butterfree versus Pidgeotto, begin!"

"Butterfree, start with Tackle!" Leaf commanded. Butterfree charged at the bird Pokémon. "Pidgeotto, block with Steel Wing!" Ash countered. Pidgeotto's wings glowed a metal-grey colour, and were held up in front of it, which Butterfree ended up running into.

"Butterfree, Confusion!" Leaf ordered.

"Dodge, and use Quick Attack!" Pidgeotto sped away from the psychic waves, and slammed into the Bug type. "Follow up with Wing Attack!" Pidgeotto's wing glowed white and slapped Butterfree, causing the Bug type to fall to the ground.

"Butterfree get up, quick!" Leaf called out, "use Stun Spore and make it faster using Silver Wind. Butterfree forced itself to get up and released a mist of orange powder, then flapped its wings, creating wind with silver crescent shapes within it, propelling the Stun Spore towards Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto quick, send it back with Gust!" Ash commanded, which Pidgeotto quickly did, creating a duel between the two opposing winds. When Butterfree's attack began to get too close, Pidgeotto flapped its wings even harder, pushing it back onto Butterfree, causing it to become paralyzed by its own attack, while also taking super effective damage from the Gust.

"Finish it with Wing Attack!" Ash ordered, Pidgeotto slammed into the paralyzed bug, knocking it out, as it could not avoid the attack due to the paralysis.

"Butterfree is unable to battle! Pidgeotto is the winner!" the judge announced when Butterfree didn't get back up.

"Way to go, Pidgeotto!" Ash cheered. Leaf sighed as she recalled Butterfree.

"Thank you Butterfree, now rest up" she whispered, placing the Poké Ball on her belt, and grabbing another. "All right, Bulbasaur let's go!" she called, releasing the dinosaur-like Pokémon.

Ash grinned. "We still have type advantage Pidgeotto, let's finish this quick!" he called to the bird, who replied with a squawk.

Leaf smirked, "Come on, Ash, you should know type advantage isn't everything by now" she called, "Bulbasaur, use Sweet Scent!"

Bulbasaur's bulb opened slightly, releasing a sweet smelling pink mist into the air, surrounding Pidgeotto. Causing its eyes to droop slightly. "Now Sleep Powder!" Leaf ordered.

"Quick, Pidgeotto, doge!" Ash commanded. Pidgeotto attempted to dodge, but its evasiveness had dropped considerably, making it too slow to be able to avoid the blue powder, causing the poor bird to fall asleep, and fall to the ground. "No! Pidgeotto!" Ash cried.

"Perfect" Leaf smirked, "Bulbasaur, finish it off with Take Down!" Bulbasaur charged at the sleeping bird, slightly glowing white while doing so. The grass type slammed into Pidgeotto hard, sending it flying before it landed on the ground again, its eyes now replaced with swirls.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Bulbasaur is the winner!" announced the referee. Ash recalled his fallen bird, thanking it for its efforts, before attaching its Poké Ball back to his belt and turning to Pikachu.

"You ready to go buddy?" he asked his partner, who nodded before running out onto the field, ready to face Bulbasaur. "Alright, let's start with Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.

"Pika!" the Mouse Pokémon cried, before running straight at its opponent, white light streaking behind it as it ran, and slammed into Bulbasaur before it had a chance to move.

"Now, use Thunder Wave!" Pikachu let of a small wave of electricity which struck Bulbasaur, causing its body to spark.

"Bulbasaur, no!" Leaf cried, "use Razor Leaf!" Leaves shot out from Bulbasaur's bulb, though slower than usual. Pikachu dodge the leaves easily, thanks to Bulbasaur's paralysed state.

"Pikachu, Electro Ball, let's go!" Ash ordered. Pikachu jumped into the air, using its tail as a spring, as a ball of electricity began to form at the tip of its tail. As the attack grew, the electric type chanted "Pika pika pika pika pika" before finishing with a "chu pi!" as it flicked its lightning bolt shaped tail, sending the large ball of electricity at the paralysed grass starter. The attack exploded, causing Ash and Leaf to have to shield their eyes from the dust. As the dust settled, the two battling Pokémon could be seen, only one was standing though.

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle, Pikachu wins, meaning Ash Ketchum moves on to the next round!"

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, putting a fist in the air. Pikachu ran back to its trainer, and jumped into his arms for a hug. "You were great, Pikachu!" Ash praised, while scratching Pikachu behind the ear, causing it to coo in happiness. On the other side of the field, Leaf had knelt down beside her sparking starter Pokémon, petting it gently on the head.

"You did great, Bulbasaur, take a good rest now" she said softly, returning the fallen grass type to its PokéBall. She stood up, then walked over to Ash and Pikachu. "That was great Ash, I'm surprised how much much damage that Electro Ball caused" she admitted.

Ash smiled before replying, "Electro Ball does more damage the faster the user is compared to the opponent, so the Thunder Wave, as well as Pikachu already higher speed, made it to so much damage" he explained.

Leaf raised her eye brows in surprise, "Wow Ash, I'm impressed, your not usually the most strategic person in the world" she stated.

"Hey! I can when I need to!" he defended, before laughing as the two rivals walked off the battle field.

* * *

Misty won her battle that round, too, against a trainer with a Doduo and a Magnemite, thanks to Poliwag. The next day however, did not go very well for Ash. His next opponent was too strong for him, and though Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Beedrill fought well, the opposing team of Gastly, Rhyhorn, and Machoke was too much, knocking Ash out of the tournament.

And when Misty checked who her next opponent would be, she was surprised at who it was. The image on the screen next to hers, was none other than the fiery girl she had met on the beach while training, Amber Fiamma.

* * *

 **Well… it's been quite a while, hasn't it…? I really do apologise for how long it took for this chapter to come out. I've been procrastinating this so much. Originally going to show Misty's round 2 and Ash's round 3 battles, but it was a bit too much. I'm honestly kinda regretting doing a tournament this early, I'm not the best at writing battles, so I tried to cut down on the less important ones, even if Ash losing is kinda important… Next chapter will be the end of the tournament, so hopefully I'll be able to continue on without the stress of the tournament… Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon, but until then, bye!**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**

 **Leaf:**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Butterfree (Female)**

 **Nidoran (Female)**


	13. A Battle of Fire and Water

"Welcome everyone, to second match of the semi-finals of the Cape Tournament!" cried the announcer, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers. "For this battle, we have one of the Cerulean Gym Leaders, Misty Mizuyawa!" Once again, the crowd cheered loudly, apparently excited to see a Gym Leader in action. "and her opponent, the fiery Amber Fiamma, from Cinnabar Island!"

Misty stood on her side of the field, glaring at Amber on the other. She was going to pay for dissing water types, Misty was going to make sure of it. The referee activated the Coin Toss app, which landed on heads.

"Amber has the first move!" he announced, holding up the flag on Amber's side.

"Alright, Ponyta, Flame On!" the brunette cried, as she released her Ponyta from its Poké Ball. From where he was viewing the battle, Ash pulled out his Pokédex and looked the fire type up. _"Ponyta, the Fire Horse Pokémon. Its legs grow strong while it chases after its parent. It runs in fields and mountains all day."_

Misty smirked seeing the fire type, she was going to douse Amber's flames. "Misty calls, Staryu!" she cried as she threw her Poké Ball to release Staryu.

The referee raised both of his flags, "Begin!"

"Start with Flame Charge!" Amber ordered. Ponyta neighed in response, before beginning to stomp wildly, and then charged, its body covered in flames, towards Staryu.

"Counter with Water Gun!" Misty instructed. Staryu aimed it top point forward, then sprayed a jet water from the tip. Ponyta was moving too fast to avoid it, getting hit by the super effective attack, dousing the attack. As the flames surrounding the horse became steam, Ponyta glowed blue for a moment, the added effect of Flame Charge, a speed boost.

"Alright, Ponyta, use Double Kick!" Ponyta ran at the water type, moving much faster thanks to the speed boost. As it reached Staryu, it raised it back legs, and spun on its front legs, before kicking into Staryu's core hard.

Misty's next command came quickly, "Staryu use Bubble Beam while it's still close!" Before the fire horse had a chance to move, Staryu fired a barrage of bubbles from its core, surrounding Ponyta, and causing super effective damage.

"Ponyta, quick get out of there!" Ponyta flared its fiery mane and tail, causing many of the bubbles to evaporate, and attempted to make a break for it, Misty however, had other plans.

"Don't let it escape, Staryu, use Swift!" Staryu spun, shooting a flurry of golden stars from its gem, which began to follow Ponyta like homing missiles, eventually, they hit sending the horse flying, and landing in front of its trainer, swirls in its eyes.

"Ponyta is unable to battle, Staryu wins!" the referee declared.

Amber recalled her fallen Pokémon, and then threw another Poké Ball, releasing her Growlithe, the same one which had set poor Oddish's leaves ablaze.

"Staryu, it's another fire type, you've got this!" Misty encouraged, though Amber smirked in response.

"Don't be so sure about, Growlithe, use Flame Wheel!" ordered Amber. Growlithe's body burst into flames, much like Ponyta did with Flame Charge, and charged towards the Starshape Pokémon.

"Water Gun!"

"Take it, Growlithe!"

What? Did she hear that right? Did Amber just tell Growlithe to willingly take a super effective hit? She had to be planning something, but what…?

The water jet connected with the Puppy Pokémon, causing it to flinch slightly, but it kept going. Amber's next order shocked Misty… literally.

"Growlithe, switch to Wild Charge!"

"What?!"

Growlithe's body ceased to be surrounded by fire, instead being replaced with blue electricity. The electricity travelled through the jet of water, shocking Staryu with the super effective attack, causing it to collapse, with its red gem flashing, and beeping.

"Staryu is unable to battle, Growlithe is the winner!"

Misty recalled the Star Shape Pokémon, thanking it for doing its best, then grabbed a second Poké Ball. "Your turn, Poliwag!" she cried as the Tadpole Pokémon burst out of its Ball.

"Growlithe, Wild Charge again!" Amber ordered, which the Puppy Pokémon did, surrounding its body with electricity once more.

"Poliwag, use Ice Beam on the ground!"

The water type fired a beam of ice at the ground in front of the charging Growlithe. The fire type ran onto the ice, and began to slip and slide around the frozen ground, causing its attack to end, and making it unable to stand straight. "Now, use Bubble!" the redhead instructed. Growlithe was soon surrounded by bubbles, making it even harder for it to move.

Amber was not very happy with this situation. "Growlithe! Calm down, use Heat Wave!" she ordered. The fire type barked in reply, and released a burst of heat all around it, causing the ice to melt, and the bubbles to pop. "Now, Wild Charge!"

"Poliwag, counter it with Mud Shot!" Misty instructed with a smirk. A brown blob of mud formed above the Tadpole Pokémon, and was fired at the charging Growlithe, causing the electric attack to fade, and Growlithe to take super effective damage from the ground type attack. "Finish it with Water Gun!"

The mud had caked in Growlithe's fur, causing it to move slower than normal, and it was too close to its opponent to move out of the way of the incoming jet of water, so it was forced to take it, and it did not end well for the Puppy Pokémon, who was now lying on the ground, with swirls replacing its eyes.

"Growlithe is unable to battle, Poliwag wins!" cried the referee. Next the commentator spoke up.

"Amber is down to only one Pokémon remaining, can she turn this battle around? Or will Misty take the win!?"

Amber returned her Pokémon back to its Poké Ball. She then glared across the field at Misty, and the smirked. "I've gotta say, Misty, I'm impressed with how you've gotten only using water types, but this battle is mine!" she exclaimed, "I don't only have fire types you know, Elekid, Flame On!"

Amber's final Poké Ball burst open with a flash of light, which formed into the electric type Elekid. Ash once again used his Pokédex. _"Elekid, the Electric Pokémon. Elekid waves its arms to produce a strong electrical charge and gains strength when lightning is present"_

Misty had **not** seen this coming, though she probably should have figured Amber would have a counter for water types, besides just teaching her fire types electric moves. At least Misty had something to deal with Electric types. "Poliwag, Mud Shot!"

Once again, Poliwag formed and fired a ball of mud at its opponent, but it didn't end up doing as much damage as the Cerulean trainer would have liked, because Amber had ordered Elekid to a Light Screen, which cut the damage of special category moves, which Mud Shot happened to unfortunately be.

"Elekid, Quick Attack into Thunder Punch!" Amber instructed. Elekid shot forward, (though not quite as fast as Pikachu), aiming for Poliwag, with its right fist charged with electricity. Poliwag didn't have a chance to dodge, and was hit right in the center of the spiral on its chest, sending it flying backwards into the wall behind Misty.

"Poliwag is unable to battle, Elekid wins!" the referee once more declared. Misty recalled her starter Pokémon, thanking it for its hard work. _Now what?_ She thought to herself. All of her remaining Pokémon were weak to electric moves, all except for… _That's it!_

"Misty calls, Oddish!" Misty cried, throwing the Poké Ball containing the grass and poison type. Oddish burst from the Ball, and looked around. It quickly saw the girl that had insulted its water type friends, and glared at her, it would defend Misty and the rest of her team.

Amber rolled her eyes at seeing the grass type. "Piece of cake" she muttered, "Swift!"

Elekid opened its mouth and fired glowing golden stars from it at Oddish. The Weed Pokémon didn't wait for an order, and quickly flicked its leaves forwards, shooting a barrage of razor sharp leaves from them, which collided with the Swift attack, blocking the normally unavoidable attack. "Great job, Oddish!" Misty praised, "Now use Acid!"

Oddish fired a ball of violet acid from its mouth at Elekid, who quickly moved out of the way, and then slammed into its opponent with Quick Attack. "Oddish, Sweet Scent!" A pleasant and calming scent was released from Oddish's leaves, which covered the battle field. Amber tried to order a Thunder Punch, but Elekid did nothing, except have a sleepy and calm expression on its face.

"Oddish, Razor Leaf again!" Misty ordered. Elekid did nothing to dodge, the Sweet Scent being to pleasant to resist. The sharp barrage of leaves impacted with the dazed electric type, causing to fall down.

"No! Elekid get up!" Amber cried in panic but Elekid did nothing. Oddish fired another Acid attack, and that was that. Elekid didn't move at all, swirls in its eyes.

"Elekid is unable to battle, Oddish is the winner!" the referee declared, "Which means that Misty of Cerulean City moves on to the next round!"

Misty ran on the battle field and scooped up the Weed Pokémon in a hug. "You were great Oddish!" She told the Pokémon, "You showed that Amber whose boss!"

"Odd odd!" Oddish cried happily, it had won the battle! Maybe it wasn't as weak as it thought it was…

Misty walked over to her rival, who was kneeling next to Elekid. Noticing Misty's approach, she recalled the electric type and stood up. "Have I proven fire types are the best yet?" Misty taunted.

"Lucky break" Amber muttered, "and it's not like you beat me with a water type, maybe when you can beat me with only water types, I rethink how I feel about them" she said, before walking of the field, leaving Misty behind.

As soon as she left the arena, Misty was met by Ash, Brock and Leaf.

"Great job, Misty" congratulated Brock.

"Yeah, you showed her!" Ash agreed. Pikachu seemed to agree to, putting its fist in the air, with a "Pi pika!"

"Thanks guys" Misty replied with a smile, "Oddish seems to be getting a lot better!"

"And you're in the finals!" Leaf exclaimed, "Good luck tomorrow!"

"Thanks! I'm definitely gonna win!"

Unfortunately, she didn't, losing to the same trainer with the Machoke who Ash lost to, and though she was annoyed that she lost after making that far, she was still proud, of herself, and her Pokémon, especially Oddish. Misty had a feeling that it was going to be very stronger in the future.

Once the tournament had finished, the group stood outside of the arena. "As much as I love being with you guys, I think this is where we split" Leaf stated, "Now that Team Rocket has left Mt. Moon, I want to take a better look in there."

"I get ya, it was great getting to hang out again" said Ash, "and next time we meet, we're having another battle, you hear?!"

"You got it!" Leaf replied with a wink.

"It was nice to meet you, Leaf" Brock stated.

"Yeah, and it was great having another girl around for a while" Misty agreed.

"Well, I better get going, see you guys around!" Leaf exclaimed as she began to jog away from the group, looking back and waving.

Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all waved as well, calling out their goodbyes. When his childhood friend was out of sight, Ash turned to his companions.

"You guys ready to go too?" he asked. Misty and Brock both nodded in reply. "Then off to Vermilion City!"

 **Finally, the Cerulean Cape Tournament has finished. This chapter may seem rushed, and that's because it was. I honestly just wanted to get it done, so we can get back to the journey. And yes, Leaf is gone for now, she was never going to be a permanent companion. She is one of Ash's rivals, and rivals don't usually travel with their rivals. Anyway, next chapter will have a capture, and based on where we are in the region and story, it shouldn't be that hard to guess.**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


	14. Connected Past

' _Text written like this is Poké Speak'_ humans cannot understand this, only Pokémon

* * *

Now that the Cerulean Cape Tournament had ended, and Leaf has split from the group, Ash, Misty, and Brock were now on their way to Vermilion City, where Ash's next Gym Battle would take place. But to get there, the group had to pass through Cerulean City once more. Before continuing towards Vermilion, the group took a rest stop at the Pokémon Center. Ash took this time to make a couple calls home, one to his mother, and one to Professor Oak.

He had been meaning to call home for a while now, but he never got the chance. He hadn't called since he'd arrived in Viridian City, so his mother was probably worried about him by now. So, he decided to call her first. The call went how he expected it to, she scolded him for not calling in so long, asked him how is journey was going, and finished the call telling him to change his "you know what" every day. Now it was time to make the call he'd been meaning to make since before the Nugget Bridge, the call to Professor Oak about that strange dream he'd had about five days ago.

He dialled the Professor's number and hit call, a few seconds later, the old man answered, and smiled when he saw Ash on the screen. "Ah, Ash my boy, good to hear from you" he greeted.

"Yeah, good to see you too, Professor" Ash replied.

"Oh yes, I noticed you captured a Bulbasaur a few days ago, correct?" the Professor asked. Ash nodded. "Would you mind if I had a quick look at it? The starter Pokémon are quite rare in the wild after all"

"Sure" Ash agreed, taking Bulbasaur's Poké Ball from his belt, "Bulbasaur, come out" he said, as he opened the ball. The grass type formed in a flash of light on the floor with a "Bulba", and Ash reached down to pick him up. He turned back to the screen so the Pokémon and the Professor could see each other, and Bulbasaur's eyes widened at the sight of the man. _'Professor!'_ Bulbasaur exclaimed in surprise. He finally had a chance to let Ash know they had already knew each other, he just needed the Professor to recognise him. The two humans noticed Bulbasaur's surprise and looked at him curiously. "What's wrong, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked, Bulbasaur extended a vine and pointed it at the screen.

"Professor, I feel like Bulbasaur recognises you or something…" Ash said with a bit of confusion in his voice. At his trainer's statement, the Seed Pokémon nodded his head vigorously.

"Hmm, it would seem you're correct, Ash" Oak agreed, "Where did you find him?"

"He was protecting a hidden village which took care of injured and abandoned Pokémon, apparently, he was released by his previous trainer…" the boy explained, thinking back to what Melanie had told him.

Bulbasaur decided he would need to use different method to tell them what he wanted to. He thought for a moment, when an idea finally came to him. He extended his vine once again, and touched it to the screen, but rather than pointing at the Professor like last time, he pointed next to him, at the laboratory.

"Huh? Wait, are you pointing at the lab?" Ash asked the Pokémon, Bulbasaur nodded.

"Well, that would explain how he knows who I am…" said the professor. He then turned to a laptop beside him, and began to search for something. He seemed to find what he was looking for, and picked up the laptop, pointing the screen towards Ash and Bulbasaur. On the screen of the device, was a grid of images, showing many different people, with a name and a date beneath each one.

"Bulbasaur, this is a list of every trainer who has received a Bulbasaur from me as their Starter Pokémon" he explained, "If you are from the lab, the person who originally received you should be on the list."

Bulbasaur nodded, and began to scan the screen for the one who had abandoned him. After about a minute, his eyes lit up, and he pointed his vine at an image of a boy with blue hair, sunglasses on his head, and a smug look on his face. Ash moved a bit closer to the screen, so he could read the name of the boy easier. When he made out what it said, he told the professor, "Damian Daisuke."

Oak's eyes widened at the name, "Ah, I remember him, he seemed very arrogant when he came for his Starter, even more than Gary if you'd believe" he stated, causing Ash to shiver, there was someone more arrogant than Gary Oak? That was possible?

Suddenly, Professor Oak looked deep in thought. "If this is the same Bulbasaur I gave to Damian…" he murmured, then a small smile appeared on his face. "Ash, if this is that Bulbasaur, then I believe you two may have already been acquainted."

"Huh?" Ash said in confusion. Bulbasaur on the other hand, was ecstatic. Professor Oak remembered him, and now Ash could finally learn the truth.

"Ash, this would be the same Bulbasaur you, Gary, Leaf and your friend who moved to Kalos played with when you were younger!" the man explained.

Ash's eyes widened. A memory came to his mind, one he hadn't thought about in a while…

* * *

 _Four children, around 6 years old, stood in front of Professor Oak, inside his laboratory. "Now, I know none of you kids are old enough be trainers yet, but I wanted to introduce you four to a couple friends" said the professor, holding three Poké Balls. He threw them, releasing the Pokémon inside, a Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle all appeared. Three of the four kid's eyes widened in excitement at seeing the Kanto Starters, while one, a girl with honey blonde hair, looked a bit nervous._

" _Awesome!" the raven-haired boy, Ash, exclaimed, kneeling to pet the Bulbasaur on the head. The brunette girl, Leaf, picked up Squirtle and hugged it tightly while squealing about it being "so cute" Gary tried to act cool, but anyone could tell he was just as excited, as he stared at Charmander with his eyes shining._

 _Ash turned and noticed the honey blonde was only watching from afar, so he decided to call her over, "Serena! Come over and say hi to Bulbasaur!" he called out. Serena swallowed before going over to Ash. Bulbasaur looked up at her, as she looked at him, "Bulba!" he greeted. "H-hello, B-bulbasaur" Serena responded nervously. The Seed Pokémon noticed her nervousness, and decided to release a Sweet Scent from his bulb, in an attempt to calm her down. It seemed to do the trick, as the honey blonde gained a somewhat sleepy and relaxed expression. She squatted down and gently petted the grass type on the head, "Thank you, Bulbasaur" she thanked, to which Bulbasaur smiled in response._

 _The next few days, the kids came to play with the three starters, until the Pokémon were given away to new trainers. By then, Serena had also moved back to her home region of Kalos, and Ash knew it would be a long time before he saw either the girl, or the starter Pokémon…_

* * *

Except, here one of those starters was, right under his nose for the past few days. He had unknowingly captured a Pokémon he had befriended years ago (back when Gary wasn't as much of a jerk…).

"So, you're really the same Bulbasaur from that time?" the boy asked the Pokémon in front of him. "Bulba" Bulbasaur replied with a nod. "Well, at least we know now!" Ash exclaimed, "and if we ever see that Damien, we'll show him he was wrong to abandon you, right buddy?"

"Saur!" the grass type answered, raising a vine up.

"Well then Ash, is there anything else you need from me?" the Professor questioned, causing Ash to remember the whole reason he had called in the first place!

"Oh, yeah! I wanted to ask you about something I saw in a dream the other day" he stated.

"A dream you say?" Oak asked with a curious expression. Ash began to describe the mysterious Pokémon (or so he assumed), he had seen, the shining golden bird-like Pokémon, and the shadow figure. He was surprised at how well he could remember the dream.

"Hmm… I'm not really sure what they could have been, though there is a legend from the Johto Region about a bird Pokémon that resembles what you described…" Oak stated.

"Really?"

"Yes, I don't remember it exactly, but it's about a bird Pokémon called Ho-Oh"

"Ho-Oh…" Ash muttered, pulling out his Pokédex and looking up the Pokémon. He found the dex entry, but unfortunately the only image shown appeared to be from a cave painting or something, though it did look somewhat similar to what he saw.

" _Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokémon. Legends say it will reveal itself before a pure-hearted trainer by shining its bright rainbow-colored wings"_

"Thanks Professor, but my friends are waiting for me, so I gotta go" Ash stated.

"Oh, of course Ash, it was nice seeing you again, you two Bulbasaur" Oak replied. Bulbasaur waved goodbye with his vine, before Ash returned him to his Poké Ball.

"Well, see ya Professor!" he exclaimed in goodbye, waiting for the man to reply with his own goodbye, before hanging up. He ran off to meet back up with Brock, Misty, and Pikachu. But, as he ran, his thoughts turned back to the honey blonde girl from his past, Serena. _Hmm, I haven't seen her in ages, I wonder how she's doing…?_

But, for now it was time to continue on the road to Vermilion City.

* * *

 **Hey, I updated two fics in one day (in my time zone at least), that hasn't happened in ages (if at all...)! So, Ash finally knows about he and Bulbasaur's past, as well as bit of info about the dream he had in chapter 7. This chapter was originally supposed to be Squirtle's capture, and only the beginning was gonna be about Bulbasaur's past, but it got to my normal chapter length before I could get to the Squirtle stuff. But next chapter will definitely be Squirtle's chapter, so people who were wondering when Ash would get a water type, there you go. And for people wondering about shipping, it won't be for a long while (especially with how often I update…), but this chapter should have given you an idea of who Ash will end up with eventually.**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


	15. Enter the Squirtle Squad!

' _Text written like this is Poké Speak'_ humans cannot understand this, only Pokémon

* * *

Now with new knowledge of Bulbasaur's past, Ash, Misty, and Brock continued on their way towards Vermilion City, travelling down Route 5. "Hey, Brock, how close are we to Vermilion?" Ash asked.

Brock looked down to examine his map, "If we keep moving, we should be able to get in there in a couple days" he replied.

"Okay then! Let's keep goi-huh?" Ash stopped mid-sentence, as he felt the ground shift beneath him. He looked down, seeing his right foot sunken into the ground, when suddenly the ground collapsed beneath the trio, revealing a large pitfall. All three let out cries as the fell to the bottom, landing in a pile.

"Who put a hole here!" Misty cried.

"Ow! I landed on my head" complained Brock.

"Pika…"

"Is this some kinda prank" Ash questioned.

"If it is, then someone has a bad sense of humour…" Misty replied.

Suddenly, 5 round, blue heads peered down into the pit, laughing, "Squirtle squirtle squirtle!"

"Huh? Those a Squirtle!" Ash exclaimed, pulling out his Pokédex. _"Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. It shelters itself in its shell, then strikes back with spouts of water at every opportunity."_

"Let's teach them for playing such as dangerous prank, Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. "Pika!" Pikachu launched himself off of Ash's shoulder, quickly forming a ball of electricity with his tail, and launched it at the group of turtle Pokémon. The water types reeled back in surprise, trying to avoid, the attack, which most of them did, though one wasn't so lucky, and was hit by the super effective move.

As the other Squirtle ran to help their comrade up, Ash, Brock, and Misty had climbed out of the hole, with the help of Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. Now that he was on the same level as the pranksters, Ash noticed that all 5 were wearing black sunglasses, with all but one Squirtle wearing round sunglasses, while the odd one out was wearing pointed ones, which Ash assumed meant it was the leader of the group. The lead Squirtle glared at Pikachu, and fired a Water Gun at him, which he dodged easily. But, before the mouse had a chance to retaliate, Squirtle had charged at him with a powerful Tackle, slamming into him hard.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash instructed, which Pikachu did, frying the turtle. The other Squirtle ran to their leader, surrounding it. Before they had a chance to attack Pikachu themselves, the sound of a siren filled the air, causing the water types to grab their injured leader, and run for it.

"Chu?" Pikachu said in confusion, tilting his head to the side.

"Well that was weird…" said Ash.

The sound of screeching tyres came from behind the group. They turned around to see an Officer Jenny on her motorcycle. "Are you guys okay, has anyone been hurt?" she asked in concern.

"Officer Jenny!" Ash exclaimed. It was common knowledge, that every town, had an identical looking Officer Jenny, though Ash never could understand how they all looked exactly the same as each other.

* * *

The group were now at a nearby town's police station, were Jenny was explaining what had just happened. "People around town have dubbed that gang 'The Squirtle Squad'"

"Squirtle Squad?" Ash repeated in confusion.

"I've never heard of Pokémon forming a gang" Misty added.

"All of them are Squirtle who were abandoned by their Trainers" Jenny explained.

"Deserted…" Ash muttered, Bulbasaur and the guy who released him came to mind immediately.

"Since they have no trainer, they all just run wild and play tricks on the whole town" the officer continued, "it's kind of sad, if they had someone to care about them, they wouldn't have turned out this bad…" she said sadly, "it's a real shame…"

"Yeah…" Ash muttered in response.

* * *

After leaving the police station, the trio decided to take a rest by a river near the town. Misty took the opportunity to do a bit of fishing. Misty's lure bopped and something surfaced next to it.

"Ah, I caught something!" the redhead exclaimed in surprise. Ash sat up where he was lying. The Pokémon Misty "caught" surfaced further, revealing itself to be a Squirtle with round sunglasses, and immediately fired a Water Gun at the group, soaking them.

"We're soaked…" Misty muttered. Pikachu was not very happy about being drenched by the prankster Squirtle, so he decided to launch a Thunderbolt at the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. Unfortunately, he forgot water conducted electricity, so he ended up shocking the three trainers, while the Squirtle was left unharmed. "Stop it Pikachu!" Ash cried in pain.

"Pika…" Pikachu muttered, rubbing the back of his head it in embarrassment.

The Squirtle jumped out of the water, and ran to the nearby path. Ash quickly managed to recover, as he was starting to get used to Pikachu's shocks during training, when he accidently missed and hit his trainer my accident. The boy ran up to the path as well, Pikachu following behind.

"I've had enough of your tricks Squirtle!" Ash stated, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

As the electric type ran at Squirtle, the water type withdrew into it's shell, and started spinning towards the speed mouse with a Rapid Spin, slamming into him and sending him flying into the river.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried. As Pikachu got to the surface, a Seaking appeared nearby and started swimming towards Pikachu, with its horn glowing.

"Ah! A Seaking!" Misty cried, "Staryu, use Swift on that Seaking!" She ordered, as she threw the starfish's Poké Ball. The water type emerged from the ball and fired multiple glowing stars from its jewel centre, hitting the fish and turning its attention to it. "Staryu, try Thunderbolt!" Misty instructed, hopefully they had practiced enough.

Staryu's core began to glow yellow, before its body became covered in electricity, and fired the attack at the Seaking, shocking it and causing it to sink. Staryu quickly jumped into the water, and helped Pikachu out of the river.

Now that Pikachu was safe, Ash turned back to the path, but the Squirtle was gone. "Damn…" Ash muttered.

* * *

Sitting around in the cave that served as their hideout, the Squirtle Squad was laughing at the newly returned Squirtle's story about Pikachu and the Seaking. _"Good one!"_ One of the Squirtle laughed, _Yeah, nice!"_ another added.

The lead Squirtle suddenly perked up as he heard something outside the cave. Before he had a chance to investigate, a powerful surge of electricity filled the cave, shocking and paralysing the whole gang. The leader Squirtle forced his eyes open, and saw to figures standing at the entrance to the cave. One was a man, who dark green and grey clothes and black sunglasses, similar to the Squirtle's own, a beanie mostly covering his brown hair. A powerful looking Electabuzz stood next to the man, obviously the one who had used the Discharge attack.

"Electabuzz, use Psychic" the man ordered in a gruff voice. The electric type's eyes glowed blue, as the five Squirtle were levitated into the air, completely immobilised. "Let's go" said the man, as he turned and exited the cave, Electabuzz following, with the Squirtle floating behind them. They soon arrived at a green truck, with large cages on the back. Electabuzz floated the turtle Pokémon into the open cage, dropping them onto the metal floor. Unfortunately for the electric type, it released them a bit too early, and before the man had a chance to lock the cage, the leader Squirtle lunged out of the cage, rolling onto the ground, then making a run for it, though he quickly called back to his fellow gang members, _"I'll be back, I promise!"_

Squirtle knew he couldn't save his friends by himself, especially with that Electabuzz. He needed help, but where to get it…

* * *

As Ash, Misty, and Brock walked through town, Ash was thinking about the Squirtle Squad, he was starting to get annoyed about all the talk about people abandoning their Pokémon recently, first Bulbasaur, and now five Squirtle. He also thought it was kind of odd that so many Pokémon were releasing Kanto Region starter Pokémon, which were very rare in the wild, so it was surprising that people were releasing such rare Pokémon, even if they considered them weak…

Ash was snapped out of his thoughts by a distressed cry of "Squirtle!" The leader Squirtle was standing in front of the trio, panting. "Squirtle! Squirt squirt Squirtle!" it cried. Realising the humans couldn't understand him, he turned to Pikachu.

" _Please! I need help!"_ Squirtle begged, _"Some human came into our hideout and captured my friends, please help me!"_

As distressed as Squirtle seemed, Pikachu wasn't entirely convinced it was for real. _"How do I know you're telling the truth, and this isn't just some prank?"_ Pikachu questioned.

" _Please! I swear I'm telling the truth!" Squirtle pleaded, "The guy has an Electabuzz, I can't deal with that by myself!"_

Against his better judgement, Pikachu sighed and nodded, _"Okay, but if this is a prank, you're getting another Thunderbolt"_

Pikachu turned to his trainer, "Pikapi! Pika Pika!" he cried. Then turned, to Squirtle, telling him to lead the way.

"Huh? Pikachu?!" Ash exclaimed in confusion, before running after him, Brock and Misty following close behind.

* * *

Squirtle led the group to a small clearing, and hid behind a nearby bush, and pointed into the clearing. The three trainers saw the truck, with the cage holding the rest of the Squirtle Squad. On top of the cage, a Fearow was perched, sleeping.

Ash's eyes widened in realisation, "So this is what you wanted, Squirtle…" he whispered. Squirtle nodded in response. Brock carefully surveyed the clearing.

"If we want to get the Squirtle out of there, we need to be careful about that Fearow…" Brock stated.

"Right" Ash and Misty replied with a nod each. Thinking back to the caged Clefairy in Mt. Moon, Ash quietly released Charmander, and told him to sneak over and cut the cage open with Metal Claw. Charmander did as he was told, and hurried over to the cage as silently as he could. Once he reached the cage, his claws grew larger and glowed silver, and he began to slash at the metal bars. As soon as he touched the bars, the lizard was electrocuted, and sent tumbling backwards. Of course, the bars _would_ be electrified, especially when they were holding water types.

Unfortunately, the sound of the bars frying poor Charmander alerted the Fearow, and it angrily glared at the fire type. It took flight and swooped down at Charmander with a Drill Peck, it's beak spinning. Charmander didn't have a chance to dodge, and was sent flying into a tree, knocked out.

"No, Charmander!" Ash cried, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Piiikaa… Chuuuuu!" the mouse cried, sending a powerful bolt of electricity at the large bird. Fearow didn't see it coming, too distracted by Charmander, and was enveloped in the powerful electric attack, and collapsed to the ground, dazed.

"What's going on here!?" a loud voice boomed. The trio turned and saw a man standing near the vehicle, an Electabuzz beside him. Based on the situation, with the captured Squirtle in the cage, and the man's general look, the trio all came to the same conclusion about the man, he was a Pokémon Hunter.

"Let those Squirtle go!" Ash demanded angrily.

The hunter narrowed his eyes, "Why should I?" he questioned, "The town wants them gone don't they? I'm doing them a favour!"

"Maybe they do want them gone, but this isn't the way to do it! Pikachu, Electro Ball!" Ash yelled. Pikachu launched his attack, but the Electabuzz stood in the way, creating a Light Screen, blocking the Electro Ball. The Electric Pokémon then ran at Pikachu, it's fist glowing white, and hit him with a strong Focus Punch.

"No, Pikachu!" Ash cried. Pikachu flew backwards, right into Ash's arms. Squirtle watched in worry as Pikachu was easily defeated. He brought Pikachu and his trainer into this, he wasn't going to let them get killed.

Squirtle charged at Electabuzz, and slammed into it with a Headbutt, and then bit down hard on it's head. "Buuuu!" the electric type cried in pain, grabbing Squirtle of it's head, and throwing him down.

Squirtle withdrew into his shell before he hit the ground, reducing the damage. It turned and glared, before taking a deep breath, and firing the strongest Water Gun he had ever used. Electabuzz's eyes widened as it was blasted with the powerful jet of water, and sent flying.

"WHAT!?" The hunter cried.

While the hunter was distracted, Brock released his Onix, and ordered him to break open the cage, thankfully he wasn't electrocuted thanks to being a ground type. The Squirtle Squad cried out in happiness and jumped out of the broken cage. The four turtles ran over to their leader, and stood next to each other, glaring angrily at the hunter.

"You ready to teach him a lesson Squirtle?" Ash asked the leader. He nodded at the boy, and Ash grinned. "Alright then, all of you, use Water Gun!"

The five Squirtle grinned as well, before blasting the hunter with powerful jets of water, sending him flying into a tree, which he hit his head on, knocking him out.

"Way to go you guys!" Ash praised. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon all cheered in celebration.

"Squirtle squirt!"

* * *

By the time Officer Jenny arrived at the scene, after receiving a call from Ash's Pokégear, the Pokémon Hunter had been tied to a tree using Beedrill's String Shot, and Electabuzz and Fearow had been returned to their Poké Balls.

"Ash, Brock, Misty, you three have done a great job today" Jenny praised with a salute.

Ash shook his head, "Thanks Officer Jenny, but the ones who need praising for this are the Squirtle Squad"

"Really?" Jenny said in surprise, looking to the Squirtle Squad, who all look uncomfortable in the presence of the police officer. Jenny walked over to the Squirtle, and bent down to talk to them. "You may be trouble makers, but you did an excellent job today" she commended.

"Squirtle?" They all said in surprise, they never would have expected to receive praise from a police officer, after everything had done. Jenny seemed to think for a moment, before she looked to the gang again with a smile. "You know, you guys could be a great help to me" she stated.

"Squirt?"

"The way you helped take down this Pokémon Hunter, you could be great police Pokémon, and you would be great firefighters as well, with your water attacks!" Jenny suggested. The five Pokémon turned to each other, to discuss the offer.

" _Should we do it?"_ one asked, _"Maybe…"_ another said. The leader Squirtle had his own debate going on in his head. As much as he liked being with his squad, the way he had battled alongside that trainer boy, felt… well, right. Squirtle loved battling, and from what he could tell, the boy did as well… and though he didn't particularly like trainers after his had abandoned him, this kid felt… special. Finally, he gained a determined expression, and turned to his gang.

" _Do it"_ he told them, _"You deserve to not have a life of crime anymore"._ The rest of the squad looked at their leader in surprise, _"Boss, are you sure?"_ one questioned. Squirtle nodded, _"Yeah, but… I want something else…"_ he said, looking towards Ash. The 2nd in command's eyes widened, but then he smiled, _"You wanna go with him, don't you"_ he asked, to which the leader nodded. _"Yeah… will you guys be okay without me?"_

" _Boss, of course we will. We are the Squirtle Squad after all"_ the 2nd command assured with a grin. Squirtle nodded. " _Of course"_

The five Squirtle had a group hug, before all but the leader turned to Jenny and nodded. Jenny seemed happy with this result but looked to the leader, "What about you?" she asked him.

"Squirt" he responded, and walked over to Ash and pointed to his belt.

"Squirtle… You want to come with me?" they boy asked.

"Squirt Squirtle" he replied with a nod.

"Well, if you really want to, then welcome to the group!" Ash exclaimed, holding out an empty Poké Ball. Squirtle touched his hand to the button, allowing himself to be absorbed inside. The ball shook in Ash's hand, once, twice three times, before becoming still.

"Alright! I caught a Squirtle!" Ash cheered. "Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu added.

Suddenly, a beep came from Ash's pocket, and he pulled out his Pokédex, which showed a message on the screen. _"You have a full party of six, please select a Pokémon to send to Professor Oak's Laboratory"_

Of course, he had a full team now, so he had to choose something to send to Oak. A menu appeared on the Pokédex screen, showing small images of his seven Pokémon. He thought for a moment, he didn't really want to send any of his Pokémon, but he didn't want to transfer Squirtle right after he caught him, so he selected Beedrill's image and pressed confirm. Beedrill's Poké Ball glowed white on Ash's belt, before disappearing, getting sent to Professor Oak's Lab.

Ash called Squirtle out, so he could say one last goodbye to his friends.

"Squirtle" Ash's new Squirtle said with a thumbs up.

"Squirt Squirtle" the others replied with waves.

Jenny turned to the former leader, "Squirtle, I'll take good care of your team, so don't worry" she told the turtle with a salute. Squirtle nodded, he knew she would.

"Well, I guess we better get going" Ash suggested, to which his companions nodded.

* * *

As the group left the town, Ash suddenly stopped, startling his companions.

"Pikapi?"'

"What's wrong Ash?" Brock asked.

Ash shook his head, "Nothing, I just realised I now have all three of the Kanto starter Pokémon…"

"I guess you're just lucky Ash" Misty said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so" the boy agreed.

* * *

 **Wow, I finished this chapter really fast, even though this is my longest chapter yet… Anyway, Ash finally has Squirtle, which as I've said before, was originally going to happen last time, but whatever, its happened now. The Pokémon was mainly meant to be a way to make Ash help Squirtle without needing to include Team Rocket. However, he may possibly show up again at some point, though I'm not sure yet.**

 **Also, in case some people didn't understand last time, this will eventually have Amourshipping, so sorry people who prefer other Ash ships, but Amourshipping is the one I like, soooo, yeah.**

 **Unless I come up with something else, next chapter should be the Vermilion Gym, so look forward to that I guess. But, until next time, good bye!**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Squirtle (Male)**

 **At Oak's Lab:**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


	16. Power Surge

"FINALLY!"

The group had finally arrived in Vermilion City, where Ash would have his next Gym Battle. Misty was excited for a different reason however. After hearing about how beautiful Vermilion's beaches were for so long, she was thrilled to be able to experience them for herself.

"Well, Misty sure seems happy" Brock stated. Ash however, didn't really seem to care.

"I'm off to train! See ya later Brocko!" Ash exclaimed, as he ran off towards the Pokémon Center, or at least the direction he guessed it was, as he soon came running back, and then in a different direction, Pikachu clinging to his shoulder as the boy ran.

Brock sighed, "He has a Pokégear, and yet he still doesn't use a map…"

He turned back towards Misty, who was apparently oblivious to Ash's antics, as she had already moved down to the edge of the beach, Poliwag out next to her as the pair just stared out into the blue water. "Beautiful…" she whispered to herself. Brock sighed, before smiling and walking over to join her.

* * *

"Pikachu, Electro Ball! Charmander, counter with Flame Burst!"

Pikachu quickly charged, and fired his attack, towards the orange lizard, who fired a fire ball in response. The two attacks collided, sending embers everywhere, which Pikachu managed to avoid.

"That was great Charmander" Ash praised.

"Char!" the fire type replied with a smile.

After quickly getting his Pokémon checked out at the Pokémon Center, Ash had begun a training battle between Pikachu and Charmander, as he planned on using both in the Gym Battle. Ash released Bulbasaur, and gathered the three Pokémon together.

"Alright, you guys, it's time for our next Gym Battle!" Ash told them, "You ready?"

"Pika!" "Char Char!" "Bulba!" all three cheered in agreement. "Alright then, let's go find Misty and Brock, and then it's Gym time!"

* * *

After meeting back up with his companions, the trio made their way to the Vermilion City gym. The gyms appearance was interesting to say the least. It appeared to be a large warehouse, with yellow lightning bolts sticking out of the walls.

"Well, here we go" Ash said to himself, pushing the door open and walking through, Brock and Misty following behind. They quickly arrived at a dimly-lit battlefield, though there was no one else in the room.

"Um, hello?!" Ash called out, "I'm here for a Gym Battle!"

When a man walked through a door and into the large battle room, Ash gulped. He had heard the Vermilion Gym Leader was one of the toughest ones, even in low level battles, but the guy was huge! He was almost double Ash's size! He had spiky blonde hair, and wore black sunglasses, a green sleeveless shirt, brown camo pants, black boots, and dog tags around his neck.

The giant of a man noticed his challenger and grinned. "Hey, you little tyke! The names Lt. Surge. I have to hand it to you. It may not be very smart to challenge me, but it takes guts!"

"M-my name is Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town" Ash stated, still intimidated by the towering Gym Leader.

"Heh, very well, how many badges you got?" the man asked.

"Two"

"Alright then, ref, you're needed!" Surge called out, and another, much shorter, man came running and stood at the side of the field, "Ready, Lieutenant!"

The leader turned back to Ash, "Alright, kid, let's see what ya got!"

* * *

Ash and Surge stood on opposite sides of the field, ready for the battle to begin.

"This battle between the Challenger, Ash, and the Vermilion City Gym Leader, Lt. Surge is about to begin!" the judge exclaimed, "This will be a three on three battle, only four moves may be used by each Pokémon, and only the challenger may switch Pokémon, understood?"

Both trainers nodded, "Alright, battle begin!"

Surge took a Great Ball from his belt and hurled it, "Magnemite, stand to attention!"

The blue, red, and white Poké Ball burst open, revealing the floating electric and steel type.

"Charmander, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, releasing his Starter Pokémon.

"Magnemite, Mirror Shot!" Surge ordered. Magnemite begun glowing in a light-blue aura, which became an orb of energy in front of the Pokémon's body, and then was fired at it's opponent.

"Charmander, dodge and use Dragon Rage!" Charmander jumped out of the path of the blue orb, and fired a powerful blast of purple flames at the steel type. Magnemite was enveloped by the flames, taking a decent amount of damage, from the dragon attack.

"Use Supersonic!"

Magnemite released multiple soundwaves, making a sound which Charmander was not a fan of. But, before he could do anything, he begun to sway side to side.

"Charmander, use Metal Claw!" Charmander's claws grew and glowed silver, but rather than attacking his opponent, Charmander began to thrash around, even hitting himself with his own attack.

"What the… Charmander what's wrong!?" Ash cried out in worry.

"Ash, Charmander's confused from the Supersonic!" Brock shouted from the side lines!

"Shoot…" Ash muttered. "Charmander, you've gotta snap out of it!"

But Charmander didn't hear him, he just continued to thrash around wildly.

"Magnemite, Magnet Bomb!" Magnemite fired a silver orb of energy at the confused fire type. Unable to avoid the attack, the steel type attack hit, and exploded on impact, sending Charmander rolling backwards. Fortunately, the blast seemed to snap Charmander out of his confusion, as he pushed himself back up and glared at Magnemite.

"You may have snapped out if it, tyke, but this is it for you, Magnemite, Electro Ball!" Surge exclaimed. Hearing Magnemite's next move, Ash grinned.

"Alright, Charmander, just like we practiced, use Flame Burst!" Ash ordered. Charmander grinned as well, and charged up the strongest Flame Burst he could, and fired. The two attacks collided, but unlike with Pikachu, the fire ball pushed the Electro Ball backwards, as well as sent a shower of embers towards Magnemite, both attacks hit the steel type, and it fell to the ground, but it still wasn't completely done.

"Charmander, finish it with Metal Claw!"

Charmander charged at his grounded opponent, claws glowing, and slashed at the Pokémon, sending it flying. Magnemite hit the ground hard, and fell unconscious.

"Magnemite is unable to battle, Charmander wins!" the judge announced.

"Way to go, Charmander!" Ash praised. "Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu added.

"Charmander!" the lizard exclaimed.

Recalling Magnemite, Surge grinned, "Well, I'm impressed kid, but this battle is only just beginning", he said, putting Magnemite's ball away, and grabbing another.

"Come at me, Surge!" Ash exclaimed.

"Heh, gladly! Elekid, ten-hut!" an Elekid, appeared on the field, and begun spinning its arms, causing it's horns to spark with electricity. Ash noticed this one seemed a lot stronger than Amber's back at Cerulean Cape.

"Elekid, Quick Attack!" Surge ordered. Elekid seemed to disappear, before it appeared right in front of Charmander, and slammed into him. "Now, hit em with a Thunder Punch!"

"Counter with Metal Claw!"

As Elekid's electrified fist came towards Charmander, the lizard's claws grew and glowed once more, and the two attacks collided. Unfortunately, didn't seem to do much, and Charmander was pushed backwards. "Shock Wave!" Surge instructed. Charmander didn't stand a chance, as he was enveloped by yellow electricity, and collapsed, swirls in his eyes.

"No, Charmander!" Ash cried.

"Charmander is unable to battle, the winner is Elekid"

Ash quickly returned Charmander, and whispered a thank you to his Poké Ball. He put his starter's ball back on his belt, and grabbed Bulbasaur's ball.

"Bulbasaur, I choose you!" the dinosaur appeared on the field, and got into a battle stance. "Bulbasaur, Tackle!"

Bulbasaur charged at the Electric Pokémon, but with Surge's orders, Elekid sped out of the way with Quick Attack, before changing direction and tackling the grass type. "Bulbasaur, quick, while its close, grab it with Vine Whip!" Ash instructed. As fast as he could, Bulbasaur extended a vine, and wrapped it around Elekid's waist, "Now, Energy Ball!"

Unable to avoid, Elekid was blasted by the green ball of grass type energy. "Elekid, Shock Wave!" Elekid released a discharge of electricity, which travelled down, Bulbasaur's vine, electrocuting him, making him lose his grip on Elekid, allowing it to escape from his hold. "Now, Brick right on his head!"

Elekid's arm glowed white, before it karate chopped the still dazed Bulbasaur right on the head. "Bulbasaur, pull yourself together, use Energy Ball, rapid fire!" Ash instructed. Bulbasaur shook his head, and glared ahead. He charged his attack as quickly as he could, and fired a barrage of smaller Energy Balls. While they may have been weaker than normal, with how many there were, it didn't really matter. Elekid attempted to swat them away, and while it succeeded with a few of them, they eventually overwhelmed it, and it fell to one knee. "Bulbasaur, finish it with Tackle!" Bulbasaur charged at Elekid, and slammed into it as hard as he could. Elekid flew backwards, and landed with a thud, knocked out.

"Elekid is unable to battle, Bulbasaur wins!"

Surge recalled the fainted Elekid. "I've gotta say kid, you've impressed me, most challengers don't make it this far" said the leader, "But here is where it ends, Raichu, stand to attention!"

An Ultra Ball was thrown, releasing the Pokémon inside. The Pokémon that appeared was similar to Pikachu, but larger, with orange fur, yellow cheeks, and a long, thin, tail with a lightning bolt at the end. Ash pulled out his Pokédex, while Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he glared at the larger rodent.

" _Raichu, the Mouse Pokémon and the evolved form of Pikachu. Raichu's tail functions as a ground and releases electricity into the surface, which keeps it from shocking itself"_ the machine stated.

"So that's the evolved form of Pikachu, huh…" Ash muttered, "Can you keep going Bulbasaur?" he questioned.

"Bulba!" the grass/poison type replied with a nod.

"Alright, then use Energy Ball!" Another Energy Ball was fired, but Surge was ready for it.

"Raichu, Dig!" Raichu quickly buried into the ground beneath it, allowing the Energy Ball to fly straight over it. Unfortunately, it also meant that both Bulbasaur and Ash had no idea where Raichu would attack from next.

"Bulbasaur, be ready!" Ash called. Bulbasaur nodded, and looked around, trying to notice any signs of movement below the ground.

"Raichu, hit em with a Thunderbolt!" From right underneath Bulbasaur, a powerful blast of electricity burst from through the ground, enveloping the Seed Pokémon, before Raichu finished it's Dig attack, bursting out of the ground and slamming into Bulbasaur, sending him flying, and hitting the ground, fainted.

"Bulbasaur!"

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle, Raichu wins!"

"You were great, Bulbasaur, return!" Ash thanked the grass type, as he recalled him back to his Poké Ball. He then turned to Pikachu, "You ready, buddy?"

"Pika" the mouse nodded with a determined expression, and ran out onto the field.

"Hah! You think you're Pikachu can beat a fully evolved Raichu?!" Surge laughed, "You should have evolved that thing as soon as you got it!"

Pikachu's eye twitched. No. He was not going to evolve, he was fine the way he was. Besides, being a Pikachu had a few advantages compared to Raichu.

"He can do it!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pikapi… Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, glaring at Raichu.

"Well, you're funeral, Raichu, Body Slam!" Surge ordered. Raichu jumped up and threw itself towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu rushed out of the way, just letting Raichu slam into the ground. "Now, use Thunderbolt" Ash instructed.

"Piikaaa- Chuuuuu!" Pikachu fired a strong blast of electricity at Raichu, who was still pushing itself up. Raichu was hit and flinched, though it didn't do much damage.

"Raichu, show em a REAL Thunderbolt!"

"Raaaaaiiii chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu was hit, and it did quite a bit more damage than his did to Raichu.

"Now, Raichu, Iron Tail!" Raichu ran at Pikachu, as it's tail began to glow silver, almost looking like metal.

"Pikachu, Grass Knot!" Ash instructed. Pikachu's eyes glowed green for a moment, before two blades of grass appeared in front of Raichu, tying together, and tripping it, causing it to fall face first into the ground. "Now, Brick Break!" Pikachu's glowing paw slammed down on Raichu's head hard, causing the larger mouse to cry out in pain. "Now Quick Attack and Thunderbolt, full power!"

Pikachu jumped up, then fired the strongest Thunderbolt he could, and then shot himself into the blast with Quick Attack, cloaking himself in the electricity, as he sped towards Raichu, who was still down. The smaller mouse charged straight into Raichu, causing an explosion as connected.

Ash's Pokédex beeped, and when the boy checked it, there was a notification: _"Pikachu has learned a new move: Spark: The user throws an electrically charged tackle at the target. This may also leave the target with paralysis"_

Pikachu flew backwards from the explosion, and hit the ground, but he managed to get back up. Raichu, however, was down, knocked out.

"Raichu is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" the judge announced, "So the winner of this battle is the challenger, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

"Alright!" Ash exclaimed, then ran onto the field, and picked his partner up and held him up in the air "You were great buddy, and you learned a new move!" he praised.

"Pikapi pika!"

"Now that's a shocker! You're the real deal, kid!" Surge exclaimed, walking over to Ash, an exhausted Raichu by his side. "Not many have beaten me, especially with as few badges as you have, and ESPECIALLY not with a Pikachu against Raichu. You deserve this kid" Surge held out an open hand, with a small, metal, object which looked like an 8-pointed gold star, with an orange octagon in the centre.

"That Thunder Badge suits those who've defeated me! Take good care of it, OK?"

Ash nodded, and took the badge from Surge's hand.

"Alright! I got the Thunder Badge!" Ash cheered. "Pi-Pikachu!"

* * *

The trio plus Pikachu stood outside the gym, with Lt. Surge and Raichu in front of them.

"Well, I guess we're going now" said Ash. "If you don't me asking, Surge, which gym do you think I should challenge next?" he asked.

"Sure kid, let's see, I'd say Celadon City" the man stated, "Since Saffron is currently blocked off, you'll need to go through Rock Tunnel and Lavender Town, and go from there."

"Celadon, huh?" Ash repeated, "alright then, thanks Surge!"

"But, if you're not in a rush, I'd suggest sticking around town for a bit, there's a lot to do here, after all" Surge suggested.

"Yes, we will be!" Misty exclaimed, "Beach here I come!"

Ash sweat dropped. "Well, I guess that means we're staying…" Ash muttered, "Well, see ya later Surge!"

"Pi-kaPika!" Pikachu cried with a wave.

Brock took the lead, "Now off to the Pokémon Center!" _Nurse Joy, here I come!_ He thought to himself with a goofy smile.

"You okay Brock?" Ash asked, noticing his face.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah…"'

* * *

 **So, I've realised I completely forgot about Bill… So, I guess I'll try to find a role for him later on, but anyway… Ash finally has his third badge, and Pikachu learned Spark, which will eventually lead to Wild Charge, and then Volt Tackle, but not for quite a while. The next couple of chapters will be focusing on the other important event in Vermilion, which I'm sure most will understand, but until next time, goodbye!**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Squirtle (Male)**

 **At Oak's Lab:**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


	17. Rival battle on the SS Anne!

Now that Ash had received his Thunder Badge from Lt. Surge, the group had decided to relax in for a bit in Vermilion City, and were currently headed to one of Vermilion's beaches. However, while walking across a bridge, Misty spotted something in the distance, a huge luxury liner, docked in the harbor.

"Wow! I'd love to cross the ocean on a ship like that!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Brock agreed, "Think of all the Pokémon we'd get to along the way!" _'And all the girls!' he thought to himself_

"For sure! Just imagine sunbathing on the deck all day" Misty gushed, "Just a nice, long, relaxing cruise!"

Unfortunately, Brock interrupted the fantasies with reality, "We'd never be able to afford a cruise like that…"

"Aww…" Misty whimpered.

Ash sighed, "Man, reality can really bum you out…"

The trio sighed, and begun to walk away, heads down, but were quickly interrupted by the sound of party poppers in their faces. "Congratulations!" to voices exclaimed in unison, "You guys a super lucky! You can go on a super deluxe sea cruise!"

The trio looked up to see two girls, both wearing what appeared to be school uniforms. They both had dark tans, and one had long orange hair, while the other had shorter blonde hair. Misty recognised their appearances as the popular Kanto fashion, Ganguro, though she had never really seen the appeal, believing it just made people resemble Jynx.

"A sea cruise!?" the trio repeated in disbelief.

"Well, it's like we have these super cool tickets for you" The orange-haired girl stated, while the other just exclaimed "Cool!"

"Cool huh?" the orange-haired asked, "These are tickets for the biggest party ever aboard S.S. Anne cruise liner!" she explained.

"The _famous_ S.S. Anne?" Ash questioned. The blonde just said "Cool!" once more.

"The coolest ship on the sea!" the orange haired girl stated, "Everyone's gonna be together, and have, like, the coolest party, and it's for Pokémon Trainers only!" she explained. "Cool!" the other girl explained, which Ash thought was starting to get annoying. The girl with longer hair started talking again, "It'll be a radical party, only the most radical trainers will be there!"

Ash leaned over to Misty, "Do you know anyone who has radical anymore?" he asked her in a quiet whisper, to which the girl shook her head no.

The girl with orange hair held out the tickets to the trio, "Okay dudes, here are your tickets!"

"We'd love to go on the cruise, but we really don't have the money to pay for it" Brock admitted.

The girl shook her head, "Like, you don't understand, they're totally free!" she exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Totally free!" the girl repeated, "To-ta-ly free!"

"For free!?" Ash exclaimed excitedly, but quickly narrowed his eyes, "Wait, why are you giving them away?" he questioned.

"Well, like, we have to go out with our boyfriends, but we wanted to give our tickets to cool Pokémon fans!" the girl explained. "Cool!" the other girl added. "We saw you and thought you looked really cool, so take these and have a really cool time!"

Ash took the tickets from the girl, with a smile, "Well, thanks a lot!" the thanked.

"No sweat! Now have a nice day, for sure!" the orange haired girl exclaimed, before the other girl said "Cool!" once more. Then the two girls quickly skipped off without another word, leaving Ash, Brock, Misty, and Pikachu behind.

"Alright!" Ash exclaimed, "This really is cool, isn't it?"

"Pikachu!" the mouse said in agreement.

* * *

"The S.S. Anne, huh?" said Brock.

"Yeah, and that cool Pokémon party!" Ash added.

The trio, plus Pikachu, were now walking through the port, try to find the S.S. Anne. "I wonder which it is?" Ash questioned, scanning the many ships docked at the port.

"I think that's it!" said Misty, pointing at a huge white and red ship.

"Wow, it's huge!" Brock exclaimed.

"Pika…" Pikachu muttered in awe.

Meanwhile in some nearby bushes, the two ganguro girls were watching the group. "We got them!" the orange haired girl said.

The blonde turned to her, but what "she" said wasn't to do with the other girl's statement. "Like, wow! Don't I like make the _coolest_ girl?"

The other girl just wacked "her" over the head. "Stop acting like an ignoramus" she yelled, and begun to pull "her" off.

"Oww…" they whined, in a definitely NOT female voice.

The duo made their way to an abandoned lighthouse, and when arrived at the basement, they were no longer wearing the ganguro make up or outfits, but were wearing white Team Rocket uniforms, their hair now the regular colours of blue and magenta.

Jessie and James entered the basement, and went over to a large computer screen, where Meowth was sitting, waiting for them to return.

"We got a call from the boss" the cat stated, and pressed a button on the computer, turning on the screen, where the image of a man in an orange suit appeared. "Greetings, sir" Meowth greeted.

"So the team is all there?" the man questioned.

"Yes sir!" the trio answered.

A large cat Pokémon, a Persian, appeared next to the man, hugging up to him and purring.

"Make sure our latest plan succeeds" he told the trio, "Have all the tickets for the cruise been handed out? He asked.

"Yes sir" Jessie answered, "All the trainers were thrilled to take them."

"Was it really alright to hand out all those tickets for free?" James questioned.

"A small price to pay for what I'll get in return" the man answered. "The grunts have already boarded the S.S. Anne, and when I give them the signal, they will take all the Pokémon from the trainers, we have tricked into boarding the ship" he explained. "Do not fail me this time."

"Yes sir!" the trio replied.

* * *

"This ship is awesome!" Ash exclaimed, as the trio entered the ship. They entered into a huge ballroom, where hundreds of trainers and Pokémon standing around and talking to each other. There was also a section of the room full of many stalls, all selling different food and Pokémon related merchandise. There were also multiple battle fields where many battles were currently taking place.

"It's like a giant Pokémon convention!" Ash exclaimed. With all the Pokémon and trainers here, he was bound to see many he had never even seen before, and he couldn't wait to see them.

He noticed a pair of trainers comparing their Charmander, and another boy who joined them, showing off his Squirtle. "I bet my Charmander and Squirtle are way better than theirs are" Ash said, mostly to himself.

"Ash? Is that you?" a female voice questioned behind him. He turned around to see a brunette, wearing a green dress and hair band.

"Daisy?" Ash questioned in surprise, recognising the girl.

The girl ran over to him, "Ash! It's great to see you!" she exclaimed.

"Ash? You wanna introduce your friend?" Misty asked.

"Oh, right, Brock, Misty, this is Daisy Oak" Ash introduced.

Misty raised an eye brow, "Oak? As in Professor Oak?" she questioned.

"Yes" Daisy answered, "He's my grandpa."

"So, does that mean your Gary's sister?" the redhead asked.

Daisy nodded, "Yeah, he's here too" she stated. Ash's eyes went wide.

"Wait, Gary's here?!" he questioned.

"You bet I am Ashy-boy" a familiar voice called out. Sure enough, Ash turned to see his childhood rival, Gary Oak.

"Grandpa had tickets for the cruise" Daisy explained, "But, since he was too busy, he gave them to us."

"Cool" Ash replied.

"So Ashy-boy, how many badges have you got now?" Gary asked.

"Three!" Ash answered.

"Huh, we have the same amount then" Gary stated.

"You wanna battle, Gary?" Ash asked, he'd been wanting another chance to battle his rival, and too prove their first battle wasn't just a fluke, which was sure Gary believed.

"You bet I do, I want to get you back for our first battle!" Gary replied.

And with that they headed towards the closest empty battle field, with Brock, Misty, and Daisy following behind.

* * *

The two rivals stood on opposite sides of the battle field, Brock standing to side, acting as the referee.

"So, Gary, how many Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"Three" Gary replied.

Ash nodded, "Alright, then, Squirtle, I choose you!" Ash cried, releasing the Tiny Turtle Pokémon from his ball.

Gary smirked at the sight of the water type, "Wow Ash, you trying to copy my team?" he taunted.

"Yeah right!" Ash called back in response, "My Squirtle's way better than yours!"

"You sure about that?" Gary questioned, tossing his Poké Ball. The Pokémon that emerged from the capsule, was like a larger version of Squirtle. It had almost purple skin, with a fluffy tail and ears.

"Wartortle!" it cried. Ash pulled out his Pokédex to scan the creature.

" _Wartortle, the Turtle Pokémon, and the evolved form of Squirtle. A Water type Pokémon. Its tail is large and covered with a rich, thick fur. The tail becomes increasingly deeper in colour as Wartortle ages. The scratches on its shell are evidence of this Pokémon's toughness as a battler"_ the Pokédex stated.

"So, it evolved…" Ash muttered, "It doesn't matter though, you've got this Squirtle!" he encouraged.

"Squirt!" Squirtle replied, holding a thumb up to his trainer.

"Squirtle versus Wartortle, battle begin!" Brock called out.

"Squirtle, use your Water Gun!" Ash ordered. Squirtle sucked in air, then fired a jet of water at his evolved form. Gary only smirked.

"Water Pulse!" An orb of water formed in Wartortle's mouth, and was fired, going straight through the Water Gun, and colliding with Squirtle, sending him backwards, and onto his shell.

"Ah, Squirtle!" Ash exclaimed.

"Wartortle, Brick Break!" Gary ordered. The larger turtle charged at the fallen Squirtle, who was struggling to get back up, with his hand glowing white.

"Squirtle, quick, Withdraw!" Ash instructed. Squirtle did as he was told, and withdrew his limbs and head into his shell, right before Wartortle karate chopped it.

"Now, use Rapid Spin!" Ash ordered. Still in his shell, Squirtle begun to spin, and launched himself at his evolved form, ramming into him. "Pull back, then do it again!"

Squirtle pushed himself back from Wartortle, bounced against the floor, then sent himself back towards the larger turtle.

"Aqua Tail!"

Ash's eyes widened, as water spiralled around Wartortle's tail, as it swung it around, colliding with Squirtle's shell like a baseball bat, sending the Tiny Turtle Pokémon flying backwards into the ground.

"Squirtle, you okay?!" Ash asked in concern. His question was soon answered. As Squirtle emerged from the shell, knocked out…

"Squirtle is unable to continue, Wartortle wins!" Brock announced.

Ash recalled Squirtle to his ball. "I'm sorry Squirtle, you were great" he whispered to the ball, before putting it back on his belt. He turned to Pikachu at his side. "You ready buddy?"

"Pika!" he answered, running onto the field, his cheeks sparking as he glared at the evolved starter Pokémon.

"Just because it won last time, doesn't mean he will this time!" Gary called out.

"We'll see about that, Gary!" Ash retorted, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Piiiikaaa chuuu!" Pikachu cried, sending a powerful bolt of electricity at the water type.

"Wartortle, Protect!" Right before Pikachu's attack hit, a green shield appeared in front of Wartortle, completely blocking the Thunderbolt.

"Gah… use Quick Attack!" the electric type sped towards Wartortle, before it could even react, he slammed into the turtle, but Ash wasn't done there, "Now, use Thunder Wave!" A blue stream of electricity was released from Pikachu's body, covering Wartortle, paralysing it instantly.

"Ah, Wartortle!" Gary exclaimed, "Water Pulse!"

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Due to the paralysis, Wartortle was a lot slower than it normally was, so Pikachu was easily able to avoid the orb of water, "Now, hit with Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. Pikachu grinned, and quickly charged up an orb of electricity at the tip of his tail, before doing a mid-air flip, and flinging the orb at Wartortle, who couldn't dodge in time thanks to the Thunder Wave, which also made it do an increased amount of damage due to the large speed difference. The turtle swayed on the spot for a moment, before falling backwards, unconscious.

"Wartortle is unable to continue, Pikachu wins!"

Gary scowled, as he recalled Wartortle, and quickly threw another Poké Ball. As the Pokémon emerged from it's ball, the energy beam went straight into the ground, and 3 brown heads popped out of the ground, each with an oval shaped, pink nose. Ash quickly scanned it with his Pokédex.

" _Dugtrio, the Mole Pokémon, and the evolved form of Diglett. A Ground type Pokémon. Extremely powerful, they can dig through even the hardest ground to a depth of over_ _60 miles_ _"_

"A ground type…" Ash muttered, before making a decision, "Pikachu, return!" Pikachu started to head back towards his trainer, but was stopped in his tracks, by a barrier made of earth which appeared in front of him. "What the?!" Ash cried out in confusion.

Gary smirked. "Dugtrio's ability is Arena Trap, Ashy-Boy. It prevents opponents from leaving battle, unless they're fainted" he explained, smirking the whole time.

"Damn it…" Ash cursed under his breath, "Alright then, Pikachu, use Quick Attack, then into Brick Break!" he ordered.

Pikachu sped towards Dugtrio, with his paw beginning to glow white, but before Pikachu reached the ground type, Gary gave his next order. "Dig!" Dugtrio quickly pulled all three heads underground and out of site, the hole filling back in where the Mole Pokémon had been.

"Careful, Pikachu, we don't know where its gonna pop back out!" Ash told his partner, Pikachu nodded in response.

"Heh" Gary chuckled, "Who said it was coming back up, Ashy-boy?"

"Huh?"

"Dugtrio, use Magnitude!" the brunette ordered. Ash's eyes widened, as the battlefield began to shake (though luckily it didn't shake the rest of the ship), Pikachu struggled to stay standing.

"Now, use Bulldoze!" Gary ordered. Dugtrio burst out of the floor, a brown aura surrounding it, as a shock wave came from the ground type, hitting Pikachu, before Dugtrio rammed itself into the mouse. Pikachu flew backwards, and landed on the ground with a thud, knocked out.

"Pikachu is unable to continue, Dugtrio wins!"

Ash ran onto the field and quickly scooped his fallen Pokémon up into his arms, "Pikachu, you okay buddy?"

"Pika…" Pikachu replied weakly, holding a fist up, saying he was okay. Ash smiled, quickly passed Pikachu to Misty, who was standing on the side lines, before returning to his place on the battlefield.

 _Dugtrio's can't leave the ground, so…_ Ash thought to himself, before taking another Poké Ball from his belt. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!"

The bird emerged from the ball with a cry. The bird glared down at the Mole Pokémon from the air. "Pidgeotto, use Gust!" Pidgeotto flapped her wings, creating gusts of wind which collided with the Mole, though it seemed to barely feel it.

"Dugtrio, Tri Attack!" Gary ordered. Three orbs of energy appeared in front of each head, each orb glowing a different colour, orange, blue, and yellow. All three were launched at Pidgeotto at a surprisingly fast speed, burning, shocking, and freezing the bird all at once, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Now, use Rock Tomb!" Dugtrio's six eyes all glowed white, as multiple glowing rocks formed above it, which Dugtrio launched at the fallen bird, burying her in rocks.

"Ah! Pidgeotto! Try to break free!" Ash called out. There was movement seen under the pile of rocks briefly, but quickly became still. Dugtrio's eyes ceased to glow, causing the rocks to disappear, revealing an unconscious Pidgeotto.

"No!" Ash cried.

"Pidgeotto is unable to continue, which means the winner of the match is Gary!" Brock announced. Ash recalled Pidgeotto, his head down, with his hat covering his eyes. He whispered his thanks to Pidgeotto's Poké Ball.

"Heh! Guess I'm stronger after all, hey Ashy-boy?" Gary taunted.

Ash couldn't believe it. They should have been at the same level. They had the same number of badges. Were Gary's Pokémon simply stronger than his? He didn't even beat two of Gary's Pokémon this time…

Before anyone could say anything, the lights suddenly went out, leaving the huge ballroom in darkness. When they came back on, there were suddenly many people wearing the familiar black uniforms, with red "R's" on their chests.

"Prepare for trouble!" a female voice exclaimed.

"and make it double!" a male voice added.

Ash growled. Team Rocket was here…

* * *

 **Yay! Cliff hanger! I wanted this chapter to mainly focus on Ash and Gary's battle, which I hope turned out well. I also introduced Gary's sister, Daisy, who I don't think is used enough (or at all) in a lot of the fanfics I've read. Daisy is about 5 years older than Ash, Gary, and Leaf, and has already been on her journey, and is now working in Professor Oak's lab as a lab assistant. I plan on having her and Ash battle at some point, probably while he's training for the league, so it'll be a long time before that happens. It should be pretty obvious what's coming next chapter, so look forward to that, and until next time, see ya! (Also I figure since I had Leaf's team in the "Current Teams" section, I may as well but Gary's team as well, but not Daisy, as I don't really want to spoil her team yet, though she'll probably use at least one Pokémon next chapter)**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Squirtle (Male)**

 **At Oak's Lab:**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**

 **Gary:**

 **Wartortle (Male)**

 **Spearow (Male)**

 **Dugtrio (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Kadabra (Male)**


	18. Attack at Sea

Of course, it was a trap. Free tickets for an expensive cruise were too good to be true, and now that he thought back to the two "girls" who had given them the tickets, Ash realised they had somewhat familiar hair styles.

As Jessie and James continued to call out their motto, the many grunts around the room released Pokémon. Ekans, Koffing, Zubat, Rattata, Drowzee, nothing really out of the ordinary from what he had seen Rocket grunts use in the past, apart from a few evolved forms of those Pokémon.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!"

Now that they had finished with their motto, Jessie and James released their Pokémon, though they had both apparently evolved since their last encounter. Instead of her Ekans, Jessie released a large purple cobra-like Pokémon, with a colourful, intimidating pattern on the inside of its hood, Arbok. Instead of his usual Koffing, James a Weezing, which Ash remembered from his encounter with Proton back on Nugget Bridge.

The Rocket members began to harass the guests, trying to make them hand over their Poké Balls. Ash wasn't going to let that happen. As a trio of grunts began to approach his group, with two Zubat and a Koffing following behind them, Ash quickly grabbed two Poké Balls from his belt, and released Charmander and Nidorino. Both Pokémon looked around confused for a moment, before spotting the approaching grunts, and taking a battle stance and growling.

"Hand over your Pokémon kid!" one of the grunts ordered, but Ash had other ideas.

"Charmander, use Flame Burst, Nidorino, Water Pulse!" Ash ordered. Both Pokémon did as they were told without hesitation, firing their attacks at not just the Rocket's Pokémon, but also the grunts themselves. The grunts cried out in pain, before ordering their Pokémon. The pair of Zubat began to fire Air Cutters, while the Koffing spat Sludge at them.

"Metal Claw, Horn Attack!"

Both Charmander and Nidorino charged at their opponents, the fire type's claws glowing silver, and the poison type's horn glowing white. Nidorino rammed in the Koffing, while Charmander slash at both Zubat at once, causing all three Rocket Pokémon to fall to the ground, fainted. The grunts stared at the fallen Pokémon in disbelief, before recalling them, and running away.

Trainers all over the room had begun to fight back as well, which of course included his companions, plus Gary and Daisy. Misty had released Poliwag and Staryu, Brock released Geodude, Gary had called out his Kadabra and Spearow, and finally Daisy had a Flareon out.

Ash had always enjoyed seeing Daisy's Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab, and hearing about her journeys through Kanto. But now was not really the time to think about that. While everyone else was giving their Pokémon orders, Brock let Geodude fight on his own, while he was trying to heal Pikachu with a Revive. Daisy seemed to notice him and ran over, leaving Flareon to fight on her own as well. Upon reaching Brock, Pikachu had already swallowed the powder from the Revive, and was beginning to wake up. Daisy pulled out a Poké Ball with a camouflage pattern, a Safari Ball, and released a Chansey.

"Chansey, use Soft-Boiled on Pikachu" she instructed. The pink Pokémon nodded, and the egg in her pouch began to glow on yellow, and she raised her arms. At that, a yellow glow in the shape of Chansey's egg flew out of her pouch, and was absorbed into the electric mouse's body, which also began to glow yellow. After a few seconds, Pikachu was up, and seemed to be back to his normal amount of energy. He quickly noticed the situation, spotted his trainer, quickly thanked Brock, Daisy, and Chansey, and ran over to Ash.

"Pikapi!" he cried, as he ran up Ash's back and onto his shoulder.

"Pikachu! You okay now?" the boy asked, to which the electric type nodded. Ash grinned, "Alright buddy, let's teach Team Rocket a lesson, Charmander, Nidorino, let's go!" He ran in the direction of the stage intended for musicians, where Jessie, James, and Meowth were standing, Arbok and Weezing beside them.

Jessie spotted the boy coming towards them, "Arbok, Poison Sting that twerp!" she ordered, pointing in Ash's direction. The snake's mouth opened, and a barrage of toxic needles fired from her mouth.

Ash reacted quickly, "Nidorino, counter with your Poison Sting!" Nidorino did the same as Arbok, firing them before the snake's attack reached them, the needles colliding with each and cancelling each other out.

"Now, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder, and quickly began charging his attack. But before the attack could be completed, there was blur of cream and brown, as Meowth appeared in front of Pikachu. The Scratch Cat Pokémon clapped his paws together in Pikachu's face, startling him, halting his attack, and before Pikachu can do anything, the normal type began to rapidly slash at the mouse.

"Take dat, and dat, and dat!" the cat cried as he continued to slash Pikachu with Fury Swipes. Pikachu cried out in pain, as he fell towards the ground. Ash quickly ran to catch his partner, but before he could reach him, Arbok had slithered over and wrapped its long body around Ash and squeezed hard. Ash cried out as Arbok's grip on him tightened, and Pikachu hit the ground with a thud.

Charmander and Nidorino ran to protect their trainer, but Weezing came at them both with a Gyro Ball, slamming into both, and sending them flying backwards. The Poison Gas Pokémon spat a Sludge attack at Charmander, who was trying to get back up. Weezing continued to fire Sludge at the fire lizard, but Nidorino jumped in front of his team mate, taking the damage with little trouble, thanks to him also being a poison type. Too distracted by protecting Charmander, Nidorino didn't see a Water Pulse coming from Jessie's Tentacool, and both Pokémon were hit by the attack, Charmander knocked out due to the super effective move.

Nidorino forced himself back onto his feet, but he began to stumble around, tripping over his own feet, Water Pulse had confused him. Pikachu pushed himself up, and glanced around, seeing Ash wrapped up by the large snake, Charmander knocked out, and Nidorino unable to walk straight. Pikachu could definitely take the Tentacool, but there was no way he could take Meowth, Arbok, and Weezing all at once. Realising he was outmatched, Pikachu decided he had to get help, so he quickly sped towards where Misty and the others were fighting back against the grunts.

"Pikachu-Pi!" the mouse cried, calling Misty's name in his "Pika-speak". The redhead turned at the sound of Pikachu's cry, turning her attention away from the battle happening between Staryu and a Rocket Grunt's Raticate.

"Pikachu, what's wrong?" Misty questioned. Pikachu pointed the direction he came from. Misty looked to where the Pokémon was pointing, and gasped when she saw Ash struggling in Arbok's grip. Misty quickly ordered Staryu to finish of the Raticate, which it did easily with a Water Gun and Thunderbolt combo. She then called for both Staryu and Poliwag to follow her, as she released Oddish. She would have called out Goldeen as well, but she knew the fish wouldn't be able to battle very well outside of water. "Staryu, Water Gun! Poliwag, use Mud Shot! Oddish, use Razor Leaf!" Misty ordered, pointing towards the purple snake. The Pokémon did as they were instructed, each firing their attacks, aiming at Arbok's head. The snake cried out as the attacks hit, causing her grip on Ash to loosen, as Misty ran forward to pull Ash, who was beginning to pass out, away from the large cobra. Arbok glared angrily at the redhead, before flinging herself at the girl, her tail glowing purple.

Before Arbok could reach Misty, Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt at the snake, frying her as she fell to the ground, her body sparking. "Thanks, Pikachu" Misty thanked. Kneeling down to where Ash laid on the floor, she quickly checked to make sure her companion was okay. She was no medical expert by any means, but he seemed to be okay for now. Ash stirred for a moment, before his eyes slowly opened, and he tried to sit up. "Ugh… What happened?" he questioned. Misty put an arm around him to make sure he wouldn't fall down again. "You got wrapped by Arbok" she answered. Ash's eyes widened, "Oh, the battle!"

He quickly stood up, almost falling back down again, but Misty kept him from falling. He turned, and glared at Jessie and James who were still on the stage. He quickly recalled his fainted Charmander and confused Nidorino, before calling out Bulbasaur. The Grass type quickly took in the situation, understanding what was happening. Ash nodded at Pikachu and Bulbasaur, who both responded with nods of their own, before the trio ran towards Jessie, James, and Meowth, Weezing, and Tentacool beside them. "Thunderbolt on Tentacool, Energy Ball at Meowth!"

Misty followed behind Ash, along with Staryu and Poliwag, "Staryu, Water Gun at Weezing, and Poliwag use Ice Beam!" The attacks collided with their targets before the Rocket Duo could order their own attacks, and their Pokémon collapsed to the ground.

"Uh oh" said James. He and Jessie began to back away, after grabbing Meowth and recalling their Pokémon, as Ash and Misty walked closer to them, but the villainous pair were quickly stopped by a wall behind them. "Well, I guess we know what happens next…" Jessie muttered in defeat.

"You got that right" Ash replied, "Pikachu!" "Staryu!" added Misty, "use Thunderbolt!" both finished together. Pikachu and Staryu gladly obliged their trainer's request, each firing a powerful blast of electricity at the Rockets. Jessie, James, and the fainted Meowth were enveloped in the combined Thunderbolt, before an explosion went off, and the trio were sent flying upwards, blasting through the roof of the ship, and off to who knows where, while yelling their regular catchphrase of: "We're blasting off again!".

Ash and Misty turned around to face the rest of the battle, which was just about ending. Team Rocket's Pokémon were sprawled all over the floor of the large room, with their trainers soon joining them, either by being attacked directly or being put to sleep by various grass and bug types using Sleep Powder or Spore.

"Well" said Ash, "I guess that's over".

* * *

After the ship had been retaken from Team Rocket's control, the S.S. Anne had returned to Vermilion City earlier than planned, due to damages to the giant ship, caused by the battles against the Rockets.

Gary had left almost immediately after getting of the ship, only saying "Smell ya later" before leaving.

Now, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Daisy stood outside of the Vermilion City Pokémon Center. "Well, I'm heading back to Pallet Town" Daisy stated. Ash nodded, "We're gonna rest here tomorrow, and then head to the next place with a Gym, uh, where is the next Gym Brock?" he questioned. "It looks like the closest Gym to us is in Saffron City" Brock stated, looking through his guide book. "Alright then!" exclaimed Ash, "On to-" "Actually" Daisy interrupted, "The gates into Saffron City are currently closed" she stated, "Your best bet would probably be to head to Lavender Town through Rock Tunnel, and then take the nearby underground tunnel the goes under Saffron, and ends up at Celadon" Daisy explained, "and besides, the Saffron Gym is one of the hardest Gyms in Kanto, even the leader uses one of her lower level teams" she added.

"Huh, well, in that case, were going to Lavender Town next!" Ash exclaimed.

Daisy smiled, "Well, I better get going it was nice to see you again Ash, and nice to meet you, Brock, Misty"

"Great to see you again too, Daisy, tell Professor Oak, hello from us!" said Ash.

"Will do" Daisy replied with a giggle, "See you later!" and with that she left, with Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu waving goodbye as she walked off.

With that, the group headed into the Pokémon Center, ready for a day of relaxation tomorrow, before starting their trek towards Lavender Town.

* * *

 **Well, this took awhile to come out didn't… Sorry if this chapter was kind of boring, I had trouble writing the Team Rocket battle, and I didn't want to do what everyone else seems to do and have the S.S. Anne blow up or something similar, but didn't know what to do instead, so I ended up kind of rushing it. Anyway, next chapter will have two captures, but I won't say which Pokémon are captured, or who catches them, though it may be easy to guess based on captures that happened around this point in canon, so there's a hint I guess. Sorry again for this chapter taking so long, and I'll see you next chapter (whenever that happens to be…)**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Squirtle (Male)**

 **At Oak's Lab:**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


	19. A Cruel Situation

Two small Pokémon, a blue seahorse, and a red crab, swam through the waters off the coast of Vermilion City as fast as they could, a large jellyfish-like Pokémon swam after them, the red gems on its head glowing, as it pursued them angrily. The larger Pokémon extended the blue appendage on its face, and fired a stream of purple sludge from it. The crab Pokémon, managed to evade the poisonous attack, but the seahorse-like Pokémon wasn't so lucky. Seeing its friend injured, the crab turned and fired a glob of mud right at the jellyfish's face. The larger Pokémon reeled back in pain at the super effective attack. The crab quickly and gently grabbed hold of its injured friend with its pincer, and swam of towards land, before their pursuer could recover. Hopefully it could find some help there…

* * *

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

"Counter with Acid!"

Squirtle and Oddish's attacks collided cancelling each other out. While taking the day off from travelling of the S.S. Anne incident, Ash and Misty had decided to take some time to do some training battles on the beach with their less experienced team members, Squirtle and Oddish.

"Now, Oddish, Razor Leaf!" Oddish whipped her head forward, sharp leaves firing from the three leaves on her head towards her opponent. "Squirtle, Withdraw!" The Tiny Turtle Pokémon pulled his head and limbs inside it shell, and began to glow, his defense raising, and the Razor Leaves bounced of his hard shell, causing reduced damage. "Now, use Headbutt!"

Squirtle's head and limbs emerged from his shell, as he launched himself head first at Oddish. "Ah!" exclaimed Misty, "Oddish move quick!" As Squirtle neared, Oddish jumped out of the water type's path, causing Squirtle to hit nothing but the sand where the Weed Pokémon was standing.

"Now, Absorb!" Oddish's leaves glowed green, beams then extended from them, and wrapped around Squirtle. "Squuuirtle!" Squirtle cried out in pain as Oddish drained his energy. As the green glow surrounding both Oddish's leaves and Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon looked exhausted, while Oddish seemed completely fine, if not better than when the battle started.

"That's it!" Brock called, "Squirtle is unable to continue, so Oddish wins!"

"Oddish odd!" the grass type cried in happiness. Misty picked up her victorious Pokémon, and hugged her close, "You were great Oddish!" she praised.

"You were great too, Squirtle" said Ash, as he returned the exhausted turtle to his Poké Ball.

Meanwhile, a certain crab Pokémon reached the shallow waters of the beach, with its injured friend still unconscious. Quickly the crab looked around, and spotted the nearest humans to it, three humans, with a Pikachu and Oddish with them. Gently laying the blue seahorse down in the shallow water, the crab started scuttling towards the group of humans.

"Kooki! Kooki!" the water type cried, jumping up and down, while waving its pincers to get their attention. Pikachu's ears perked up at the sound of the crab. "Pikapi" said Pikachu, tapping his trainer on the shoulder. Ash looked at his partner, "What is it Pikachu?" he asked. The electric mouse pointed towards the jumping crab. "Isn't that a Krabby?" he questioned, which gained Misty and Brock's attention as well. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon. _"Krabby, the River Crab Pokémon. A Water type Pokémon. Krabby live on beaches, burrowed inside holes dug into the sand. On sandy beaches with little in the way of food, these Pokémon can be seen squabbling with each other over territory."_ The device stated.

"It looks like it wants something" said Brock. Krabby did its best to nod, which wasn't easy since it didn't have a neck.

"But what though?" Misty asked. The River Crab Pokémon waved its claw, showing that it wanted the group to follow it. The trio looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to see what Krabby wanted. Following the crab to the shallow water, the group was surprised to see the injured seahorse Pokémon. "Ah! A Horsea!" Misty cried. Ash once again used his Pokédex. _"Horsea, the Dragon Pokémon. A Water Type Pokémon. By cleverly flicking the fins on its back side to side, it moves in any direction while facing forward. It spits ink to escape if it senses danger"_

"It's hurt!" Brock exclaimed, rushing into water and picking up the Horsea. Taking a closer look, Brock noticed a purple streak above its mouth. "Not good, its been poisoned" he stated, "Ash, there's an Antidote in my bag". Ash nodded, "I'm on it!" He soon returned, with a yellow spray bottle. Taking it from Ash, Brock quickly sprayed the medicine on to Horsea. It must have stung, because Horsea's eyes suddenly opened as it flinched in pain, but the purple streak disappeared from its face, indicating the poison was gone. Horsea's eyes widened as it realised it was healed, then smiled up at Brock. The former Gym Leader placed the Dragon Pokémon back into the water, allowing it to swim around happily.

Krabby jumped up and down happily as well, glad that its friend was okay. But its happiness soon disappeared as it heard an angry cry from the ocean. Both Krabby and Horsea's faces paled, oh no, it found them. The large jellyfish Pokémon burst out of the water, firing a Bubble Beam towards Krabby and Horsea, as well as the group near them. "Teeeentaaaa!" it cried furiously.

"Ah, what is that?!" Ash questioned.

"It's a Tentacruel!" Misty replied. Once again, Ash used his Pokédex. _"Tentacruel, the Jellyfish Pokémon, and the evolved form of Tentacool. A Water and Poison type Pokémon. Tentacruel uses its tentacles to capture prey and holds it until weakened from poison"_

Ash looked to Krabby, "Was that what poisoned Horsea?" he asked, which the River Crab Pokémon responded with a nod. The Tentacruel extended two of its tentacles towards Krabby and Horsea, wrapping around them with a Constrict attack, pulling them towards it. The two water types struggled in Tentacruel's grip, before crying out in pain as the tentacles holding them began to glow purple with a Poison Jab.

"Pikachu, use Thunderb-" "Wait!" Misty interrupted, "If you shock Tentacruel, you'll shock Horsea and Krabby as well!" she explained. "Then what do we do!?" Ash questioned. Misty thought for a moment, before her eyes widened as she got an idea, grabbing an empty Poké Ball from her belt. Ash seemed to understand her idea, as he also got a Poké Ball. At the same time, Ash and Misty threw their Poké Balls, each hitting one of the Pokémon in Tentacruel's grasp, Ash's hitting Krabby, and Misty's hitting Horsea. The two Pokémon were pulled inside of each ball. As the Poké Balls fell, the shook, Ash quickly released Pidgeotto to grab the Poké Balls before they fell into the water, who then dropped them into Ash's hands. Ash handed Horsea's ball to Misty, who was releasing Staryu. Ash heard a beep from his Pokédex, indicating he had a full team, and needed to send a Pokémon to Professor Oak's lab. He quickly chose Nidorino, whose Poké Ball disappeared from his belt.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he glared at Tentacruel. They no longer had to worry about hitting anyone else, Pikachu grinned. "Pikachu!" "Staryu"! "Use Thunderbolt!" Both trainers cried.

"Piiikaaa Chuuuu!" "Hyaaahhh!" both shouted as the blasted the water/poison type with electricity, who cried out in pain.

Ash and Misty looked to each other, and nodded, each releasing their newly caught Pokémon. "Ready to show Tentacruel whose boss?" Ash asked them, both nodded.

"Alright then, Krabby, use Mud Shot!"

"Horsea, Water Gun!"

"Kooki!" "Seeeea!"

Both attacks hit Tentacruel, sending it flying backwards, causing a large splash where it landed. The Jellyfish Pokémon then sped off in the opposite direction, further into the ocean, sounding like it was crying as it left the area.

Horsea and Krabby hit their tail and claw together respectively, doing the best high five they could. "You two were great!" Ash congratulated, "Though, we did kinda capture you two without your permission, so, do you want us to release you, or do you want to come with us?" he questioned.

The two water types looked at each other for a moment, before nodding happily. "You want to come with us?" Ash asked, the pair nodded again. "Great!" Misty exclaimed.

"Then, I caught a Krabby!"

"and I caught a Horsea!" The duo of trainers cried, "Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu added.

"Congratulations you two" Brock commended, "Two new friends before we leave town"

"Right!" Ash exclaimed, "Tomorrow, its on to Rock Tunnel!"

"Yeah!" the others cheered.

Krabby and Horsea looked at each other and smiled. They wouldn't have to worry about that Tentacruel anymore.

* * *

 **A shorter chapter this time. Ash and Misty now have Krabby and Horsea. Ash will definitely use Krabby a lot more than he did in the anime, and he will evolve before way before the league. Also, I didn't mention it in the chapter, but Krabby is male, while Horsea is female.**

 **Next chapter will have an evolution which didn't happen at all in the anime, but no spoilers for who it will be.**

 **Current Teams:**

 **Ash:**

 **Pikachu (Male)**

 **Charmander (Male)**

 **Pidgeotto (Female)**

 **Bulbasaur (Male)**

 **Squirtle (Male)**

 **Krabby (Male)**

 **At Oak's Lab:**

 **Beedrill (Male)**

 **Nidorino (Male)**

 **Misty:**

 **Poliwag (Male)**

 **Staryu (Genderless)**

 **Goldeen (Female)**

 **Oddish (Female)**

 **Horsea (Female)**

 **Brock:**

 **Onix (Male)**

 **Geodude (Male)**

 **Zubat (Male)**


End file.
